Suspense on Chizuma charge withdrawal

There is suspense on the status of the withdrawal of a charge against Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) director general Martha Chizuma after Minister of Justice Titus Mvalo yesterday failed to present written evidence in Parliament.

The minister did not show up in Parliament in Lilongwe yesterday to fulfil the promise he made on Tuesday after police released Chizuma on bail for a defamation case filed by Director of Public Prosecutions Steven Kayuni.

Speaking in the House yesterday, Thyolo Central legislator Ben Phiri said he consulted some legal minds who hold the view that the charge can only be withdrawn through a court process since there was a warrant of arrest issued by the court.

Meanwhile, Chizuma’s lawyer Martha Kaukonde yesterday said she would write the Minister of Justice to provide a formal and written communication to her client that the charges have been withdrawn and the case is closed.

“There is nothing formal and we intend to write so that they can give us formal communication,” she said.

Kaukonde said as far as she is concerned the verbal withdrawal announced by the minister means that Chizuma is free to continue working as usual.

“She may not have been in office [yesterday] not because of the charge, but because of what happened on Tuesday. She is traumatised and needed some time off,” she said.

In an interview on Tuesday, lawyer Justin Dzonzi also indicated that while it is not clear how the withdrawal was done, the minister does not have powers to withdraw the charge. He said only the DPP can do that.

He said: “In terms of the law, it is the Director of Public Prosecutions who can withdraw or discontinue any criminal proceedings even if the complainant wants the matter to go ahead.

“But it can also happen that if the complainant doesn’t want the case to continue they can also attempt to withdraw, but the power to withdraw rests with the DPP.”

Dzonzi said the fact that, in this case, the DPP and the complainant is one person he assumes that the withdrawal is both sides. He said if this is what happened, then Chizuma is free of any wrong doing in this case.

In an earlier interview on Tuesday, Mvalo said the withdrawal does not require the involvement of the DPP since the charge is coming from the police and not the court. The minister said this is why the police had withdrawn the charge.

We could not get a comment from Kayuni as he could not be reached on his line. He did not respond to WhatsApp messages as well.

Inspector General of Police Merlyn Yolamu said she could not comment on the matter as she is outside the country for other official duties.

But on Malawi Police Service Facebook page, the statement issued on Tuesday announcing the arrest and the charge levelled against Chizuma remains. Chizuma was charged with making use of speech capable of prejudicing a person against a party to judicial proceedings which is contrary to Section 113 (1) (d) of the Penal Code.