Msukwa, Nair judicial review adjourned to April 18

The High Court of Malawi has adjourned to April 18 2022 hearing of an application for judicial review by former minister of Lands Kezzie Msukwa and his co-accused Ashok Nair on corruption charges.

Msukwa, who was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in December 2021, applied for a judicial review against his arrest on the basis that it was illegal.

The court was yesterday scheduled to start hearing the matter, but could not proceed due to the death of a relation to one of the lawyers representing the applicants.

In a telephone interview yesterday, ACB director of legal services Chrispin Khunga confirmed the adjournment and said the graft-busting body was ready for the case.

He said: “We were informed by the court that one of the claimants’ lawyers had written the court about the death of a sister in South Africa. The body is arriving today [Monday] and, therefore, the hearing could not proceed as he is one of the key lawyers.”

Msukwa was arrested by the ACB for allegedly obtaining bribes from Nair in form of K15 million and a Mercedes-Benz C-Class as well as K4 million.

During an earlier hearing before High Court Judge Simeon Mdeza, the court allowed the parties more time to review a fresh application by Nair who wanted to join the case.

While the High Court in Zomba set aside Msukwa’s arrest and detention, the High Court in Lilongwe released Nair pending the judicial review that was granted to both.

But in a supplementary affidavit filed on February 28 2022 at the High Court in Lilongwe through ACB principal investigations officer Isaac Nkhoma, ACB wants an order dismissing the application.

The bureau also wants the court in Lilongwe to grant it an order discharging the order of stay of arrest and detention, including costs on the matter.

The gist of the ACB’s affidavit is an acknowledgement that the bureau directly and without involving the office of Attorney General received information from United Kingdom’s National Crimes Agency (NCA).

Both Msukwa and Nair, through their lawyers Chimwemwe Kalua and Bright Theu, are arguing that it is only the AG who is designated by law to facilitate the sharing of evidence with a foreign government and not the ACB.

The ACB is, however, arguing that nothing can stop it from engaging in direct cooperation with foreign agencies and that both Msukwa and Nair did not demonstrate that they were arrested based on evidence from UK.