By Nenenji Mlangeni
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-Till now there has been unanswered questions about the gruesome murder of Issa Njauju who at the time of his death was Malawi Anti–Corruption Bureau (ACB) Director of Corporate Affairs.
Njauju was brutally murdered on August 2016 while his body was found half buried behind the presidential villas in Lilongwe that his official car was burnt to ashes at Mtsiriza Township in the city’s western part.
But with confident information in our possession, Malawi President Peter Mutharika’s personal bodyguard Norman Chisale is said to be behind the murder.
Let’s begin by introduction. Norman Paulos Chisale is a close friend to Deputy Inspector General of Police (Administration), Duncan Mwapasa, (now Acting Inspector General of Police).
He is also a husband to Commissioner Chisale of Malawi Police.
Norman Chisale is among President Mutharika’s closest.
Chisale is the Chief of State House Security. Nothing can reach Mutharika without going through him.
It is believed that his influences were felt in the appointment choices Mutharika has made in the past including that of Duncan Mwapasa.
Background
President Peter Mutharika was to have an audience with the Anti Corruption Bureau.
He indicated his readiness for credible investigations on core members of his “empire” as that would prop credibility of his rule.
The ACB always have piles of information on people working in private and government agencies. They even have those of State House.
But during this period, they were overwhelmed with accusations on one State House man, Norman Chisale.
For record purposes, a dossier was compiled titled Norman Chisale.
Mutharika had indicated his interest to peruse the document.
Our information says there was nothing pretty special on picking Chisale other than the overwhelming evidence of his looting.
Mutharika, having indicated a desire to be kept abreast of corrupt activities, and having indicated to keep his words, he was to receive the document that afternoon.
The dossier contained how Chisale (within just a year of working as State House Chief Bodyguard to President Mutharika) had accumulated the following;
1) A Lodge in Mangochi
2) A Mansion in BCA Hills in Blantyre
3) A Hummer H3 silver
4) A Toyota fortuner 2014 model black
5) A Toyota V8 meltalic grayish in colour
6) Four Red Mini coupers
7) Five Toyota quantum minibuses direct from South Africa
8) one White Mercedes Benz C 200 Latest model
9) Five Toyota D4D
10 Eight White Ford Ranger Sport cars
10) Four Trucks
11) Three Passenger buses
12) Two Nissan Tilda Latino
13 Toyota Collora (previously owned by Mutharika Chef)
14 Audi A6L
15. Five star flats in area 3 close to Ntunthana State Lodge (although the plot belongs to Malawi Police Services).
16. 18 top class houses adjacent to the gates of Sanjika Palace in Blantyre.
17. A filling station in Dedza.
18. A 3 star house in Kanjedza (He purchased it from Noel Masangwi).
19. A flat in Area 43 close to old Chinese Embassy offices.
20. 6 trucks
The secret dossier was sent to President Peter Mutharika for perusal.
The said assets amounted to MK320 million.
ACB had established at that time Chisale was a civil servant grade PS3 and was receiving a salary of less than MK10 million a year.
So there had to be an equation. Only Chisale could explain.
The dossier also had information which implicated Mutharika’s body guard in the mysterious procurement of a second hand presidential motor home, which was bought twice its actual price from South Africa.
The Dossier in our possession
After the ACB completed compiling the dossier, they sent it to President Mutharika.
At the State House the confidential rapport landed into the hands of a junior security Superintendent Dingani Njolomole.
As by procedure, all going to the President have be read by the security people.
Njolomole formerly Director of Police Operations at Mulanje Police was at the waiting room that day, where all the documents to the President first reach to be examined before being forwarded to the H.E. Mutharika.
He informed his boss, who happened to be Norman Paulos Chisale of a confidential dossier from the ACB cataloguing his secret laundering
Chisale grabbed the dossier.
Their quick investigations revealed that a copy of it was at the ACB.
Further investigations revealed that that copy was in a car being driven by Issa Njaunju.
A quick decision was made to eliminate the document and people suspected to have been involved in the collecting of the information in the dossier.
What Norman Chisale did
He linked up with some members of the ACB to investigate the document. He also linked up with the NIB and Police Services and their built rings.
The first to be hunted was the then Lucas Kondowe the ACB Director General. Coincidentally Kondowe was scheduled to meet Mutharika somewhere same week. And the fears grew.
A secret man hunt for Kondowe was launched by the boys, night and day. His movements were surveyed.
Without wasting time, Chisale also sought the assistance of his in law working at Malawi Police who had to be arrested later on in connection to the Njaunju but now mysteriously set free.
People at ACB have a habit of exchanging company cars.
On the day of Njaunju’s murder, Kondowe was driving another car.
Njaunju was driving a car, suspected to be occasionally used by Kondowe.
The killers had not time to study their prey. Their mission was carried out successfully. But instead of assassinating Kondowe, they killed an innocent man, Njaunju. A mistaken identity.
Strange incident after Njauju was murdered
1.Just after Issa Njaunju was murdered and his body discovered, an offer of MK 1 million was made that those with information, which could lead to the arrest of Njaunju murder would get. The offer was made by Chisale who is Mutharika personal body guard.
This offer was a trap which Chisale wanted to see if someone really knew what had happened for Njaunju to be murdered.
If anyone came up with information which was accurate and could lead in tracing Chisale who in this case was behind the murder of Njaunju.
That person was going to be killed right away and the truth would never be known about the murder of Njaunju.
2. An in-law to Chisale who is a brother to his wife Commissioner Chisale was arrested. It later transpired that the phone which Njaunju was using before his death was sold somewhere and the seller was Chisale’s in law who is also a police officer based in Lilongwe.
3. Before his arrest, this same police officer was boosting to his friends at a drinking joint that he knew the thugs behind the killing of Njaunju.
Some people tipped the police and he was arrested just to save face. He was later released by the police which Chisale controls much through his friend, Duncan Mwapasa, the Deputy IG administration.
Evidence that Njaunju was murdered by a Senior State house person
The police carried out their investigations but later froze them.
The Police investigations did establish that Chisale is the main man on Njaunju murder. But the police are powerless now after discovering Chisale’s linkages and connections.
1.The arrest and the release of a police officer who later turned out to be Chisale’s brother raised eye brows of the investigators.
2.The predicament of Njaunju’s phone.
3.Deputy Commissioner of Police Duncan Mwapasa and Chisale are friends.
There is no way Mwapasa can allow Chisale to be arrested because they are connected.
Till now the police have not come up with any update on the investigation on the late NJauju.
Malawi Civil Society move on Njaunju death
No wonder, three local Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) also presented petition on the brutal murder of Njauju, to the African Commission on People’s Rights as one of several issues that the commission should pay attention to in assessing Malawi’s human rights record.
Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), Centre for the Development of People (Cedep) and Youth and Society (YAS) presented the petition to the 62nd Session of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights on Njauju and other issues.
In the petition the three CSOs say that they are also worried that justice on the death of Polytechnic student Robert Chasowa may never prevail just as might be the case with Njauju.
The CSOs said that while Commissions of Enquiries were established to examine the circumstances and details of the extrajudicial killings, no tangible results have come to light “although the commissions released reports that linked some senior political and public officials.
“Malawi Government commenced investigations and initiated arrests for the suspects. It is disappointing that up to date justice has not been delivered and there is no political will to conclude these cases,” reads the petition. “Malawians are worried whether the Robert Chasowa and Issa Njauju cases and even the July 2011 killings will see justice because these cases had a lot of political linkages as revealed by inquiry reports.”
The CSOs claim that lack of political will to address the matters is due to the fact that they happened during the ruling party that is in power now.
“We, therefore, call upon your honourable office to impress upon the Malawi government as a matter of urgency to bring the alleged perpetrators to book regardless of their political affiliations and status,” the CSOs say in the petition.
The CSOs further argue that there is suppression of media freedoms, freedom of expression and assembly and threats to human rights defenders and private media houses.
Malawi Anti–Corruption Bureau (ACB) refuses to name openly the Njaunju’s murder
Despite all the information, in January 2020 the current Anti-Corruption Bureau Director General, Reyneck Matemba sought to ease the pressure for action mounted on his office following Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda’s report of alleged attempts, by two citizens, to corrupt Concourt judges.
Matemba acknowledged official receipt of the complaint by the five judges through a letter authored by Nyirenda and further disclosed that ACB has taken caution statements from the judges on the complaint which, he said, is criminal in nature.
The ACB Director General outright refused to name the two suspects mentioned in the matter except for the fact that “one is a civil servant working in one of the three arms of government while the other works in the private sector.
“We can be sued…,” he said noting that his office and that of the Attorney General had been in such a situation before where someone claimed K70bn in defamation.
“Fortunately, we fought vigorously and they lost the case,” he said stressing the resolve of his office to expedite investigations into the matter at hand by wavering some of the existent “bureaucratic” procedures given the public interest in this case.
According to the ACB, the matter was first brought to his attention on November 28th , 2019 when Chief Justice Nyirenda informed him before officially writing his office on 4thDecember. Matemba said the Chief Justice has left the rest in his hands.
But while responding to questions from reporters and some lawyers Matemba hinted his office could make arrests before lapse of the 45 days within which the Constitutional Court said would pronounce verdict on the presidential election case.
Norman Chisale has also avoided the media on any his personal and public life despite being involved into dubious deals.
