MDF complies In veep’s case
Malawi Defence Force (MDF) yesterday complied with a High Court of Malawi Financial Crimes Division order to submit more disclosures in the case where the State is accusing Vice-President Saulos Chilima of corrupt practices.
The disclosures the defence sought, according to court documents, are minutes of the Defence Council meeting held on October 16 2020 authorising the procurement of armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and a memorandum of March 2021 from the MDF to President Lazarus Chakwera seeking authorisation to procure APCs from Malachite FZE using single sourcing.
Initially, the MDF refused to submit the documents to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), which is prosecuting the case, citing national security concerns and lack of relevance to the Chilima case.
But on January 12, presiding Judge Redson Kapindu ordered the MDF to provide, by 10am yesterday, the disclosures directly to him.
And in a written response yesterday, Registrar of the High Court and Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal Kondwani Banda confirmed that the MDF submitted the documents directly to the judge under strict cover of confidentiality.
He said: “I can confirm that they [MDF] complied. They appeared before the judge and submitted the required documents as ordered.”
In his ruling, Kapindu stressed that it was up to the court to make a determination on whether the documents were sensitive.
He said: “Upon assessment of such information, the court will then make its final determination on the two key outstanding issues, namely: (1) whether the information is indeed so sensitive from a national security perspective that it may not be used as evidence in this court in any form, and (2) the extent to which such evidence is relevant, if at all, to the defence case.”
In its submission to the court during an earlier hearing, the defence, led by former Attorney General Kalekeni Kaphale, insisted on these disclosures, saying without them, their client would not be subjected to fair trial.
The defence further prayed that if the documents cannot be submitted, then charges against the accused should fall off.
MDF spokesperson Major Emmanuel Mlelemba did not respond to our questionnaire yesterday while Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda, through whose office the judge summoned MDF for submissions on why they could not share the disclosures, did not respond to our query.
Chilima was arrested in November 2022 for allegedly demanding and receiving an unspecified amount of money to influence the award of contracts to United Kingdom-based Malawian businessperson Zuneth Sattar.
The Vice-President was named among 84 individuals who are suspected to have received bribes from Sattar according to a report the ACB submitted to President Chakwera in 2022.
Other suspects currently facing trial include former solicitor general and former ACB boss Reyneck Matemba, former chairperson of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority John Suzi Banda, former minister of Lands Kezzie Msukwa and former Inspector General of Police George Kainja.
