Lutepo, Manondo meet in prison
He is such a protected ‘species’ that only his wife, lawyer and another suspect have been granted the green light to visit him in prison on orders from ‘above,’ Nation on Sunday has established.
The treatment afforded one of the suspected kingpins in the cash-gate scandal that has hit Capital Hill, Oswald Lutepo, at Zomba Maximum Security Prison has set tongues wagging in the Malawi Prison Service (MPS) where senior sources say they see the ‘big hand’ of the authorities.
Even some members of the ruling People’s Party (PP) who went to the prison to see the suspect on Friday were turned away.
But sources yesterday said Pika Manondo, who is suspected to have had a hand in the shooting of Treasury budget director Paul Mphwiyo, visited Lutepo in prison after being driven by police from Lilongwe.
The purpose of the visit, which the source said was on Lutepo’s invitation, was to discuss the possibility of the two becoming State witnesses against former Justice Minister Ralph Kasambara arrested on Friday on suspicion that he was involved in Mphwiyo’s shooting.
“Both Lutepo and Manondo seem to agree to become State witnesses and that is how the meeting has been concluded,” confided the source.
After the meeting, said the source, Manondo went back to Lilongwe in a police vehicle.
Deputy police spokesperson Kelvin Maigwa and Lutepo’s lawyer Jai Banda said they were not aware of the meeting.
Manondo’s lawyer John Gift Mwakhwawa told Nation on Sunday yesterday that while he was not aware of the meeting, his client had expressed interest to meet Lutepo.
Banda confirmed that there is an order from prison authorities to restrict people who visit the suspect. He said he will make an application on Tuesday to ask the court to allow other people Lutepo may want to visit him
“I do not know why they have made that order. It might be for his [Lutepo’s] protection,” said Banda.
The lawyer said prison authorities did not consult him on the decision to limit access to Lutepo.
Orders from above
Some senior sources that are dealing with Lutepo confided in Nation on Sunday that there is an order that Lutepo should not meet anybody except his wife and lawyer during his stay at the maximum security prison.
One source said Lutepo’s stay at the prison “is a charade meant to create an impression that government is taking the arrest seriously”.
According to the source, another reason for taking Lutepo to Zomba was to afford him a more decent stay in prison where he said conditions are better than at other holding facilities.
“Unlike the perception of many people that Zomba maximum facility is the most notorious place, it is actually the opposite of many prison facilities in the country,” said a source who met and spoke to Lutepo in prison.
Added the source: “So far, Lutepo is not complaining of anything. He is having it good here. He is getting everything he wants. He has his own room away from other prisoners. He is confined in single rooms section unlike other prisoners who are on remand like him.”
The source also said the treatment the suspect is receiving at the facility is consistent with the way his arrest was handled—that he was allowed to drive himself to police when officers would have picked him on arrival at Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe.
“Not that the transfer on its own is illegal. In Malawi, we have four maximum prisons; namely, Chichiri, Mzimba, Zomba and Maula. Zomba happens to be the best of them all,” said the source.
Prison spokesperson Evans Phiri said he could not discuss Lutepo’s stay at the facility for security reasons.
“The security procedures do not allow us to discuss people held in prison,” he said.
Chief of prisons Kennedy Nkhoma also refused to comment on Lutepo’s treatment, saying he did not have information on the suspect because he had just returned from USA.
He is a protected species for now, come 2014 when MCP is back in power we will re-investigate the whole cashgate scandal and thats when Malawians will know the whole truth nothing but the truth. There is no way and I repeat, there is no way billions of kwachas could be syphoned out of the govt coffers without the president let alone the finance minister and budget director knowing. There is no secret under the sun so they say, so. just keep tight fellow Malawians for the time is coming, 2014 is just around the corner when the real truth about cashgate shall come to bare. And there shall be no mercy for all lotters whether male or female, because these people are responsible for murder of our brothers and sister who died of curable diseases due to lack of medicine in our hospitals. A lot of capable young men and women have left school with to proper qualification because of poor education standards in our country because of these greedy lotters.
All these cases happened in Lilongwe and our good for nothing PP government decides that Lutepo be given royal treatment in Zomba wasting public funds in following up the case. Should he not be in Lilongwe for smooth investigations? And waht investigations? We already know that his company got over 1 billion kwacha without any services. That is outright theft and for this he is not supposed to get bail. People are dying in hospitals because of selfish people like him. If this government is not serious for obvious reasons, still know that your time is up and you will still face the music next year. I believe that indeed this year is chaka cha mayankho but not the way some other people thought. This will be the year for the common people and not the few greedy politicians.
The framers of our Constitution saw it fit to put in a clause that every citizen is innocent until proven guilt by a competent court of law as rightly said by PP deputy publicity secretary Ken Musonda in his statement.
Whats wrong wirh us Malawians, people used and be arrested and some lost jobs before investigation were concluded and we cried like new born babies, blaming government for rushing to arrest people hurriedly.
Now the President is saying let investigations be conclude and suspects taken to court as per the law, tagain wemaremcrying like new boen chicks!
What is it that we want the President to do? My beloved country Malawi, full of cowards!
Am sure this country can run better with a dictator like late Bingu and not democrates like Bakili and Abiti Mtila.
It is,sad, very sad when people we put ourmtrust to lead us (the educated) mislead usmlikemeducated savages!
It seems you are part of the cash-gate beneficiaries!!!
When did this Lutepo guy start a business to become such a powerful figure in Malawi? Some of us never heard of him until he is connected to stealing government’s money. Let’s wait for the law to take it’s course but that does not mean that we should not ask questions about how our tax money was being siphoned by these greedy bastards! It’s our money and since the line was crossed, let them start having a taste of lost opportunity to improve the jails as the money ended up in their pockets. Put them on remand in the waste prisons. Others will think twice about dipping their dirty fingers in public purse.
one can hide information to a limit. MCP hid info about the killed cabinet ministers but all came out. Soon or later we will have the truth when you are out from position. God is going to fight you evil people now.