United Kingdom (UK)-based businessperson Zuneth Sattar, who is accused of bribing some Malawi Government senior officials was on Friday granted bail set at £2 million (K4.8 billion) by Westminster Magistrates Court.
During the Friday hearing, Sattar, who attended virtually and did not take plea, was formally charged with 18 counts bordering on corrupt practices alongside his company, Xavier Limited which allegedly supplied numerous goods and services at inflated prices.
The court has since set June 26 2025 for further hearing of the case. It is expected that at this scheduled hearing, the case will be referred to the Crown Court, which is the UK’s criminal court responsible for hearing indictable cases.
According to a charge sheet which Nation on Sunday has seen, Sattar is suspected of bribing former Vice-President late Saulos Chilima, State House chief of staff Prince Kapondamgaga, former Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) director general Reyneck Matemba and former Inspector General of Police George Kainja.
Others include former Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets (PPDA) board chairperson John Suzi Banda, Malawi Police Service director of legal services Mwabi Kalua and Malawi
Defence Force chief of legal services and Judge Advocate General Dan Kuwali.
The charge sheet, however, does not name one more public official.
United States (US) charge d’Affaires Amy Diaz yesterday expressed delight at the start of the case, quoting our sister newspaper Weekend Nation story on Sattar’s charges.
Writing on the US Embassy in Malawi’s official Facebook page, Diaz said the beginning of the matter was “a huge step forward” to hold to account those involved in corruption and to deliver accountability to Malawians.
In July 2023, the ACB said it would not lay criminal charges against Kapondamgaga for allegedly receiving bribes from Sattar after the graft-busting body’s investigations established that he received a Mercedes Benz S Class 350d and other gifts.
ACB spokesperson Egrita Ndala said in a statement that Kapondamgaga, who at the time was on suspension pending the investigations, signed a restitution agreement. Restitution refers to a claim or remedy requiring a defendant to give up benefits wrongly obtained.
President Lazarus Chakwera suspended Kapondamgaga alongside Suzi Banda, who then resigned two weeks later. The President’s action, then, followed an ACB report that had allegedly implicated the duo, including Chilima, Kainja and 53 other public officials who were not named and remain unnamed to date.
While Kainja was fired, Chakwera withheld Chilima’s delegated powers pending the ACB’s investigations.
The ACB arrested Kainja on June 23 2022 for receiving an advantage from Sattar to influence a procurement contract reference number MPS/SB/16/04/2021 to supply 350 000 food ration packs worth $7 875 000 by unlawfully initiating a requisition of the procurement on instruction of the UK businessperson.
The ACB also arrested Chilima on November 25 2022 and was subsequently charged with six counts of corruption for allegedly receiving $280 000 from Sattar and securing government contracts. Chilima’s case was, however, later discontinued by the State.
Chakwera asked the ACB to provide a report on Sattar after stating that he was aware of social media and purported UK reports that Chilima, Kapondamgaga, Matemba and other high ranking government officials were on the UK businessperson’s list.
But at the time, the President did not mention the officials and businessperson, who happened to be Sattar.
