Corruption suspect Ashok sues ACB Director General Chizuma

* It relates to the leaked audio clip that went viral on social media last month

* In which Chizuma alleged that there was an element of corruption when Ashok was released from custody on bail

* Ashok was arrested alongside former Minister of Lands, Kezzie Msukwa in land deals relating to Zunneth Sattar

By Duncan Mlanjira

Ashok Kumar Streedharan, who is facing corruption charges in relation to his business association with Zunneth Sattar, has sued the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Director General, Martha Chizuma for alleged defamation.

It relates to the leaked audio clip that went viral on social media last month in which Chizuma alleged that there was an element of corruption when Ashok was released from custody on bail.

Ashok, who was arrested alongside former Minister of Lands, Kezzie Msukwa, over corruption charges in relation to some land issues in Lilongwe, were both released on bail after they sought court intervention.

A summons from Lilongwe District Registry of the High Court Civil Case No. 62 of 2022, indicates that Ashok is demanding damages from Chizuma allegedly for putting his “name in bad light” in the leaked audio which he argues that “he found demeaning to his character”.

“By the said words in their natural and ordinary meaning the defendant meant and was understood to mean that the claimant is an extremely corrupt person; that the claimant corrupted a Judge to have him released from custody”.

Ashok goes further to gain sympathy from the justice system by adding to the charges that Chizuma’s statement in the audio puts Ashok as being “so corrupt that the whole justice will not help” and that Ashok “is a criminal who has committed an offence punishable with imprisonment”.

The ACB arrested Msukwa and Ashok in relation to corruption investigation the Bureau is undertaking involving Zunneth Sattar. The ACB is investigating the case in collaboration with Britain’s National Crimes Agency — UK’s anti-corruption authorities — in relation to some deals with the government of Malawi.

In October, the British National Crimes Agency alongside ACB arrested Sattar together with several associates in the United Kingdom and Malawi.

The warrant of arrest for Msukwa said he was  “reasonably suspected of having committed three counts of corrupt use of official powers contrary to section 25 (1) of the Corrupt Practices Act as read together with section 34 of the Corrupt Practices Act”.

Particulars of the offense are that between July and August 2021, in Lilongwe, Msukwa facilitated the sale of a land under his jurisdiction as Minister of Lands & Urban Development in Area 46 plot number 46/2057 to Sattar.

Sattar then bribed the Minister with K4 million and a Mercedes Benz C Class for the advantage of Msukwa’s associate Moses Kafunda.

Msukwa was also bribed K15 million through Sattar’s agent Ashok Sreedharan to buy land in Chipoka, Salima and Ashok was also charged of facilitating a K4 million bribe on behalf of Sattar for Msukwa to facilitate payment of duty at Malawi Revenue Aithority for the Mercedes Benz C Class bought for Msukwa for the benefit of Moses Kafunda.

Msukwa was since dismissed as Cabinet Minister by President Lazarus Chakwera paving way for the investigation but while the public expected the President to do the same on Chizuma — for breaching her Oath of Office following her serious misconduct of leaking inside information — he announced she was being retained.

His decision to maintain Chizuma was applauded by the public as well as the international partners as Chakwera had said he decided to keep her because she is “a person of great courage” in the fight against corruption.

The President reiterated that he appointed Chizuma because she has “the kind of courage needed to take on dangerous cartels of corruption that have milked our country dry for decades, including foreign ones that donate to us the crumbs leftover from the bread they steal from us”.

Chakwera announced that he had held a meeting with Chizuma in the company of Minister of Justice, Titus Mvalo in pursuant to Section 4(4) of the Corrupt Practices Act, which requires the ACB Director General to report to the President and the Minister on the general conduct of the affairs of the Bureau.

Among the things tabled at that meeting included the audio recording of a conversation between Chizuma and another person, which the ACB Director General herself had confirmed to the President that it was authentic and she had acknowledged that it constituted misconduct on her part.

In the audio, Chizuma is heard saying she had knowledge of a bribe accepted by a specific judge two days prior to attending a hearing before that judge and the amount of money she believed was involved the suspect gave to the judge.

She also alleged that the justice system in Malawi will not do what is right in handling corruption cases unless it is forced.

While Chakwera took cognizance that the audio sparked public debate about whether or not “Chizuma breached her Oath of Office; compromised the credibility of the Bureau and the security of its investigations” and that she had “violated the same Corrupt Practices Act she was appointed to enforce”.

Chakwera also said whether or not Chizuma had defamed the judge of an independent court, her conduct or that of any public servant “is neither infallible nor beyond scrutiny nor above the law”.

“Now since the conduct of any ACB Director is regulated by law, there are several legal minds who have told me that the audio recording contains information justifying Ms. Chizuma’s removal as Director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau on the grounds of misconduct in terms of Section 6B (2) of the Corrupt Practices Act, 2019.

“But upon consideration of multiple factors, I have determined that the best thing to do in this instance is to keep a watchful eye on her general conduct of the Bureau’s affairs in order to ensure that there are no other incidents of concern about her fitness for office going forward.

“As such, I have given her a stern warning about what the law demands and what I expect from her as the person I appointed to that office.”