Lights dim on Zuneth Sattar cases

When the Sattar issue broke out in October 2021, it was seen as a mark for the government to demonstrate its commitment to tackling corruption. Officials spoke with passion. Malawians saw a spree of arrests and sackings. There was promise. Three years on, and with nothing worth mentioning in terms of positive action, hopes are fading

By Cathy Maulidi:

When the United Kingdom’s National Crimes Agency (NCA) arrested businessman Zuneth Sattar in October 2021 in connection with alleged corrupt dealings his firms were involved in regarding government contracts in Malawi, the country got into a frenzy.

The administration rode the wave, pitching itself as enthusiastic about tackling corruption.

In illustration of that passion, President Lazarus Chakwera sacked some of those close to him and stripped his Vice President Saulos Chilima of his delegated duties.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) made a string of arrests.

Three years on, that passion seems to be ebbing away, if at all it has not vanished entirely.

With a few cases stuck in court, the State discontinuing some, and the ACB remaining legally constrained to make progress on some of the cases, Malawi could as well forget that there will be any meaningful result on any Sattar cases, according to governance commentators.

In a bigger picture, they say, it represents how the fight against corruption in Malawi has been lost.

Malawi News inquired about the progress on a number of cases. We found them stuck in the hierarchies of law enforcement and justice delivery.

The case of former lands minister, Kezzie Msukwa, sums up how some of the cases have been stuck.

Msukwa was arrested in December 2021. Over two years later, that case has gone nowhere and no one knows when it will start moving again.

The ACB arrested Msukwa, who is also Chitipa East lawmaker, in December 2021 on allegations that he received an advantage in form of a Mercedez Benz C-Class and money from Sattar purportedly to be allocated land in Lilongwe and Salima through Ashok Nair who is said to be Sattar’s agent.

Early in 2022, Msukwa applied for a judicial review, which his co-accused, Nair, later joined.

The judicial review application included a question on the legality of the ACB working with the NCA or using the information obtained by this agency without the authority of Malawi’s Attorney General in line with the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act.

High Court judge Redson Kapindu dismissed the judicial review application with costs. Msukwa appealed the ruling in 2022. The court is yet to set a date for the hearing of that appeal.

“We appealed the ruling and we are still waiting for the Supreme Court to set a date for hearing,” said Msukwa’s lawyer, Chimwemwe Kalua, in an interview.

We contacted Registrar for Supreme Court and High Court Kondwani Banda Friday for comment on the matter. He said was driving and promised to call back. He never did. When we followed up, he did not pick his phone.

ACB’s Director General Martha Chizuma admitted the delays but he said the Bureau has not lost hope in the fight against corruption despite these frustrations.

“We cannot lose hope in this fight,” she said.

Chizuma, however, said the Bureau’s hands on this case are tied as the power on progress of the case only resides in the hands of the court.

“Unfortunately on this specific issue, it’s totally outside the Bureau’s control. It’s the courts that have to set the date of the hearing,” she said.

While the nation awaits progress on the case, this week, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) also discontinued Chilima’s case.

For Malawi Law Society president Patrick Mpaka, Malawians ought not be surprised with the seemingly dimming lights on the Sattar-related cases and other high-profile corruption as there has been pattern to it.

“In the context of the previous discountinuance of other equally high profile cases involving allegations of corruption, the pardons and the lack of movement of proceedings in similar cases and given the history of the conduct of the State agencies on these matters, what is happening is not surprising,” Mpaka said.

Executive Director for Youth and Society Charles Kajoloweka said hope for the future against corruption fight has been lost.

“There are many corruption cases that are not clear in terms of the future. You would recall there are 84 people that are on ACB’s Sattar list. We haven’t seen much on this. What has happened? You may also recall of discontinued investigations on some Sattar-related cases. And there are many more cases whose progress we haven’t seen. Corruption fight has been lost,” he said.

Michael Kaiyatsa, Executive Director of Center for Human Rights Rehabilitation, also said corruption fight in Malawi is a lost cause.

“Previously, we had hope that the Sattar issue would be resolved through our judicial system. But with what is happening, the delays in the cases and particularly the discontinuance of the VP’s case, all hope is gone.

“It seems the people we put into power and those responsible for the administration of justice have become advocates for a certain agenda, no longer advocates for the rule of law or a corruption-free Malawi,” Kaiyatsa said.

He said what Malawians have on corruption fight is lip service and not meaningful action “which is disappointing”.