By Wezzie Gausi:
Attorney General (AG) Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda Thursday failed to appear before the Financial Crimes Division in Lilongwe, where Judge Redson Kapindu was to continue hearing the alleged corruption case involving Vice President Saulos Chilima.
The Anti- Corruption Bureau (ACB) dragged Chilima to court, where he is answering charges related to the alleged receipt of bribes from United Kingdom-based businessman Zuneth Sattar.
On Thursday, the court was set to hear from the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) as to why an order of disclosure should not be made in favour of the accused person.
In an interview after court proceedings, defence lawyer Khumbo Soko said the court had adjourned the case to a date yet to be known.
He said the judge adjourned the matter after the AG failed to show up in court as he was attending to other issues.
“The AG told the court that he was willing to attend to the case in person but the court should allocate another day for the proceedings to continue.
“The AG is coming to court to represent the MDF, who are refusing to give ACB some documents— in relation to the case— which we requested to look into,” Soko said.
ACB Lawyers were not available to comment on the matter.
On September 25 this year, Kapindu ordered the MDF to, through the AG, appear before the High Court in Lilongwe to explain specific reasons for refusing to furnish the ACB with documents relating to Chilima’s corruption case.
The initial charge sheet showed that Chilima received a sum of $280,000 in alleged bribes to assist Xaviar Limited to be awarded a food ration packs contract by the Malawi Police Service.
However, the new charge sheet does not mention the alleged bribe but, instead, accuses Chilima of demanding and receiving unspecified amounts of money for himself to influence a public officer to give his approval to enter into a contract with the company.
