Attorney General vows to reclaim bus depots from Mulli
By Wezzie Gausi:
Attorney General (AG) Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda has vowed to leave no stone unturned in the government’s efforts to reclaim bus depots operating under National Bus Service, which is owned by businessman Leston Mulli.
He said this Tuesday after appearing before the Financial and Economic Crimes Court in Lilongwe, where cross examination and re-examination of witnesses took place in the bus depots forfeiture case.
Chakaka Nyirenda said there was no way the government could have surrendered ownership of the depots to Mulli for free.
“We, as government, are certain that what happened in this donation was fraud. And we want the depots to continue being managed by the government,” Nyirenda said.
Defence lawyer John Kalampa said he was ready for cross-examination.
“Today, we were cross examining the first witness. We are ready to face the remaining witnesses,” Kalampa said.
On Tuesday, the State paraded one witness, Ephraim Phiri, who works for the Malawi Police Service as investigator under the Fiscal and Fraud Section.
During cross examination, Phiri told the court that there were no proper procedures followed when the depots were being given to Mulli.
On July 28 2022, High Court Judge Mandala Mambulasa ruled that Mulli and NBS be dispossessed of the five depots, namely Lilongwe, Wenela in Blantyre, Kasungu, Makata in Zomba and Mzimba and ordered local councils to take ownership.
