Political and legal experts have asked the State to investigate the motive behind the recording and leakage of a conversation between Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) director general Martha Chizuma and a third party discussing investigations progress.
In separate responses to questions from The Nation yesterday, they said it was surprising that since the matter came to light in January 2022 the State has not bothered to establish the motive of those who may have sent the audio and how it got leaked.
They said it was disappointing that focus has been more on Chizuma who has been in courts and police cell over the viral audio.
President Lazarus Chakwera on Wednesday indicated that Chizuma was at liberty to lodge a complaint against the person who recorded her, identified as Anderson Mwakyelu by a Commission of Inquiry into Chizuma’s arrest on December 6 2022.
But the commentators said the ACB director general has already gone through a lot and it was high time the State acted on the matter.
University of Malawi (Unima) law lecturer Dr Bernadette Malunga said in an interview yesterday the right entity to pursue the matter was the State through police. She expressed fear that the country may never know the truth of the matter if the State remains quiet.
She said: “It seems the State is not willing to sue, which is surprising. The person who recorded her is well known, but it’s like they are leaving everything to Chizuma.”
In a separate interview, political strategist Humphrey Mvula said the matter was cryptic from how the recording was done and went viral as well as how a private citizen commenced a legal process against Chizuma.
He said: “Was the person who recorded the call doing a paid job? What could be the reason to record Chizuma? These are some of the questions that need to be answered.
“The police should have done justice by investigating this matter as well. We need the truth.”
Unima law professor Garton Kamchedzera said in an earlier interview with The Nation that Section 319 A(f) of the Penal Code creates an offence punishable by seven years imprisonment for any person who engages in deceit to induce another person to do or say something that she or he is lawfully entitled to abstain from
He said: “Why have crime investigation and prosecution agencies appeared not even to question the man with whom Ms. Chizuma conversed, to get a possible window into the illicit networks of maggots or in the President’s words, those evil forces that recorded her?
“Our institutions, structures and processes, are too rotten to fight corruption, which controls decision-making and action-taking in this pathetic country.”
During a televised address from Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe on Wednesday to announce decisions taken on the inquiry report, Chakwera said Chizuma has the constitutional right to file a police complaint against the person who recorded her against her wishes, if she so decides, in which case the law would take its course.
In the viral audio, Chizuma expressed frustration with the level of corruption surrounding United Kingdom-based businessperson Zuneth Sattar’s investigation. She alleged that there was money changing hands to have corruption suspects released from police.
The ACB chief also put under spotlight the clergy, judges, lawyers and the Presidency, alleging they were not helping matters in the case involving Sattar who has multi-million dollar procurement contracts with Malawi Government ministries, departments and agencies.
