Veep’s two charges struck off, judge to see ‘sensitive’ documents

 High Court Judge Redson Kapindu yesterday ordered the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) to directly furnish him “under strict confidential cover” with the sensitive documents relating to the corruption case involving Vice-President Saulosi Chilima.

The order to be carried out by 10 am on January 22 2024, follows failure by the State to provide the court with the documents in October last year on account that they border on national security, but Kapindu said the right to fair trial is absolute and should not be compromised.

In his two-hour ruling at the High Court Financial Crimes Division in Lilongwe, Kapindu said no institution is above the law and therefore the court needs to first examine the ‘sensitivity’

of the information before making a decision on whether without the disclosures a fair trial of the defendant is possible.

Said Kapindu: “The court, therefore, finds that the omission to bring the documents for disclosure to the Judge in chambers for at least his individual scrutiny was a very significant omission by the Attorney General and MDF on point of principle. All decisions being undertaken by public officials are subject to the Constitution,

“The State was duty-bound to at least bring the court into the confidence of the information which is being withheld. They did not have to disclose the information to the defence… but they should have brought the information to the judge for his individual appreciation of the same.”

The court further observed that merely agreeing not to examine the documents on claims of its sensitivity may lead to immunising MDF from the rule of law and eventually officers at MDF may start discussing irregularities which is against what the framers of the Constitution wanted.

Kapindu said that the AG and MDF submitted that the Defence Council members take oath of secrecy and therefore what they discussed is not for public consumption as the information has the potential to strain diplomatic relations and put at risk Malawian troops deployed in combat.

But the defence argued in the chambers that the claims are unsubstantiated and that at least a judge needs to inspect the documents before making a decision.

The defence is, among other things, seeking minutes of the Defence Council meeting held on October 16 2020 authorising procurement of armoured personnel carriers by Malachitte FZE and a memorandum of March 2021 from the MDF commander to President Lazarus Chakwera seeking authorisation to procure the items.

The defence also wants the State to disclose the memorandum with the President’s minutes authorising the procurement and any other documents by which

the authorisation was given.

The defence also requested for a letter dated April 13 2021from MDF to Ministry of Finance requesting for allocation of funds for procurement of the items.

In his ruling Kapindu also discharged Chilima’s counts number 3 and 5 which border on breach of trust by public officers.

The judge pointed out that the State introduced the charges after expiry of the prescribed period.

Chilima was slapped with five counts of corruption for allegedly receiving a bribe from businessperson Zuneth Sattar to secure government contracts.

But the court ruled that the State did not error to not include the amount of money in Chilima’s bribery charges as the charge is valid.

In an interview after the hearing, one of the lawyers representing Chilima, Khumbo Soko, said he is happy that the court has agreed to examine the MDF documents before making a ruling.

Soko also said dismissing two charges means there is now less work to be executed by the defence.

On his part, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) lawyer Imran Saidi said the charges that have been dismissed are misdemeanours and that the charges of corruption still remain.

The ACB arrested Chilima on November 25 2022 on allegations that he accepted $280 000 and other items from a United Kingdom-based businessperson Zuneth Sattar in exchange for award of government contracts.

Meanwhile, the court has adjourned the matter to a date to be communicated