State discharges Chizuma’s eavesdropper in fraud case

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has discharged Anderson Mwakiyeru, in a case where he, alongside others, was accused of four counts bordering on corruption and money laundering.

Mwakiyeru, an accountant with the Accountant General’s office who will now be a State witness in the case, came to the limelight after his secret recording of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) director general Martha Chizuma went viral.

In the criminal case Number 1 197 of 2022, some accountants were arrested on suspicion that they were getting money from government agencies through allowances.

Reads in part the discharge order dated May 11 2023 made through the Chief Resident Magistrate Court in Lilongwe:

“Mr Anderson Mwakiyeru was jointly accused in this matter on four counts,  namely; (a) conspiracy to commit a felony contrary to section 404 of the  Penal Code [Cap 7:01 of the Laws of Malawi].

“[b] Official corruption contrary to section 90 [a] of the Penal Code [Cap 7:01 of the Laws of Malawi. [c] Official corruption contrary to section 90 [b], [d] Money laundering contrary to section 42 [1] of the Financial Crimes Act [CAP 7:07 of the Laws of Malawi].

According to the court order, the decision was taken in exercise of powers by the prosecution under Section 81(a) of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code.

It further reads: “It is hereby ordered and adjudged that Mr Anderson Mwakiyeru is formally discharged from answering all the counts under Criminal Procedure and Evidence Case Number 1 197 of 2022, in pursuance of the aforementioned section 81[a] of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code.”

In an interview yesterday, DPP Masauko Chamkakala confirmed the discharge of Mwakiyeru from the case. However, he could not tell who else arrested from the office of the Accountant General will become State witnesses.

“The accused will be State witness; hence, the decision,” Chamkakala said in a short response.

Mwakiyeru was arrested alongside Angelina Mbale, Angela Chiphiko and Hastings Genala from the Accountant General’s office.

The four were being accused of siphoning K283 million from government coffers, alongside five others who were arrested earlier.

A commission of inquiry into the arrest of Chizuma last year identified Mwakiyeru as the person who recorded the ACB head.

Later, President Lazarus Chakwera indicated that Chizuma was at liberty to lodge a complaint against the person who recorded her.

Said Chakwera: “In this country, everyone has a constitutional right to bring a case against anyone, and when they do, the accused have the right to defend themselves in a court of law, where they are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

“Even Ms. Chizuma herself 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.”

Earlier, political and legal experts called on the State to institute investigations and establish the motive behind the recording and its subsequent leakage.

They were surprised that since the matter came to light, the State was not able to establish the motive, those who may have sent him and how the audio got leaked, but that concentration was on Chizuma, who appeared in court over the same.

In the audio, Chizuma put in the spotlight churches, judges, lawyer and the Presidency as not helping matters in a case involving United Kingdom-based businessperson Zuneth Sattar.