President Chakwera’s ‘champion in the fight against corruption’ officially re-instated as ACB Director General

* There have been calls from the public advising Zamba to officially cancel the interdiction

* After Director of Public Prosecutions Masauko Chamkakala dropped and discontinued the criminal cases

By Duncan Mlanjira

Following the discontinuation of the criminal charges that Anti-Corruption Bureau Director General, Martha Chizuma was to answer before the Senior Resident Magistrate, Secretary to the President & Cabinet, Colleen Zamba has written her to cancel her suspension.

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A letter dated February 13, informed Chizuma that the interdiction is cancelled and therefore re-instated under same Grade 1/C.

There have been calls from the public advising Zamba to officially cancel the interdiction after Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Masauko Chamkakala dropped and discontinued the criminal cases.

Chamkakala said he took the initiative to discontinue the case, saying it is in line with President Lazarus Chakwera’s agenda to remove impediments that stand in the path of institutions like the ACB in the fight against corruption.

Throughout the whole saga, that started with her arrest in December, Chakwera maintained that Chizuma was his “champion in the fight against corruption”.

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Since her case had been moving back and forth, that led to diplomatic partners, US Embassy, the British High Commission and the European Union condemning the saga, the public was sceptical whether the issue has now been closed since Zamba had been silent.

Malawi Law Society, in its mandate of protecting matters of public interest pertaining to the law, intervened in the case by applying for and was granted an injunction by the High Court pending a judicial review of the decision of Chizuma’s suspension until her criminal defamation case was concluded.

But the government quickly hired private practice lawyers, Chancy Gondwe and Jivason Kadzipayike, to act on its behalf in applying for a discharge of the injunction the next day — which was rejected by Judge Mike Tembo, who described the application as “highly unusual and unprecedented because it was instantly made on nine grounds”.

However, the two private lawyers indicated that the government would take the case further with the Supreme Court of Appeal while Malawi Law Society honorary secretary, Chrispine Ngunde told the media in response to government’s unyielding stance that they are “going to do whatever we can, to make sure that justice prevails in this matter”.

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While applauding the decision by government to drop the charged, Fred Mkandawire posted on Facebook, saying he hoped that this should be for good, saying it would be incredulous if it would appear once more as it kept doing since December.

While Mathews Kanthonga said: “It is very funny, how many times will the President forgive Chizuma? Tomorrow, we might be hearing that the  Attorney General has taken the case to a court in Zomba. Though I haven’t gone further with education, but some of the decisions being made in Malawi have got no logic.”

Jaffar Kambalame hinted that Chizuma’s personal security “should be watched carefully” as an “attempt on her life cannot be ruled out. They are not done with her.

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One grouping claiming to be a civil society organization condemned the intervention of the donor community, saying that’s interfering with Malawi’s sovereignty, but Patrick Mpinganjira trashed this like of thinking, saying: “Until we start using donor aid properly, we stop corruption, we work on being economically independent and we stop relying on donors, we should never claim that we are a sovereign state.

“Sovereignty of a nation, without a sense of patriotism on the part of the leaders, leads to dictatorship that is of more dangerous magnitude than colonialism,” he said.

Joshua Chisa Mbele described the whole saga as shameful, asking why the leadership “had to go through humiliating threats of sanctions for sobriety to reign”.

Evans Chirambo summed it up by saying common sense has now prevailed, while asking the President to now deliver on his “promises of ending corruption or reducing it to the bare minimum by supporting the ACB boss without creating hostile environment as a last ditch of making her fail”.

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