By Wezzie Gausi:
State Vice President Saulos Chilima has made an application to the High Court on the review of his bail conditions.
Chilima was released on bail, whose conditions included K1 million bond, surrendering travel documents, reporting to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) every three months and only leaving the country upon the court’s approval.
Defence lawyer Khumbo Soko said they would like to know the essence of having Chilima report to the ACB once every three months.
He said their application is also meant to seek variation on the condition that Chilima should surrender travel documents to the court and be seeking approval of the court before travelling.
“We would like to understand what the condition signifies, as it serves no purpose unless it is to humiliate the accused person.
“Chilima is the Vice President and has police security everywhere he goes— which means he cannot run away considering the position that he is holding. So, we are applying [to the court] to have the bail conditions vacated,” Soko said.
Addressing the court, ACB lawyer Chrispin Khunga said Chilima’s condition to report to the ACB once in a while is reasonable.
He said reporting once every three months translates to four times a year.
“If you look at the conditions that were given to former vice-president Cassim Chilumpha, which included informing the Southern Region Commissioner of Police when traveling outside Blantyre and reporting to a police station once every week, you could see that the subordinate court was lenient with Chilima,” Khunga said.
In an interview, ACB Deputy Director General Hilary Chilomba said although Chilima is surrounded by security, his availability cannot be ascertained by the ACB.
He gave an example of police failing to monitor Chilumpha in his movements despite that he had security.
“Although the charges for Chilima and Chilumpha are different, Chilima’s charges are serious. His charges attract a maximum sentence of 12 years imprisonment if convicted,” Chilomba said.
Addressing the court, Judge Redson Kapindu asked the State to explain what would happen in the unlikely event that the President is incapacitated and Chilima, as Vice President, ascends to the position of President.
“I would like to understand if Chilima will be required to come to court and apply for variation of bail conditions for his case or the conditions will be removed,” Kapindu said.
Kapindu has since adjourned the matter to August 1 2023, when he will give his ruling on the application.
The ACB arrested Chilima on November 25 2022 following allegations that he received $280,000 from Zuneth Sattar, allegedly as a reward to assist Sattar’s Xaviar Limited to be awarded a Food Ration Packs contract worth $7,875,000, Reference number MPD/SB/16/04/2021, by the Malawi Government.
The rations were needed by the Malawi Police Service.
