Tag Archives: Anti-Corruption Bureau

Opinion, Politics

Martha Chizuma: A legacy of courage, integrity as Malawi’s decorated outgoing ACB Director

Lloyd M’bwana

By Twink Jones Gadama

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-Martha Chizuma’s tenure as the Director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has been marked by both triumphs and challenges.

From her strong start to the leaked audio scandal that threatened to derail her, Chizuma has faced numerous obstacles during her time in office.

However, through it all, she has remained steadfast in her commitment to fighting corruption and upholding justice.

Chizuma began her journey as the ACB Director with high hopes and expectations.

Having previously served as the Ombudsman, she was known for her dedication to transparency and accountability.

Her appointment by President Lazarus Chakwera was met with praise and optimism from the public, who saw her as a beacon of integrity in a sea of corruption.

However, Chizuma’s reputation took a hit when a leaked audio recording revealed her discussing sensitive corruption cases with a third party.

The scandal not only tarnished her image but also raised questions about her ability to lead the ACB effectively.

Senior government officials began to question her credibility and there were rumors of a plot to remove her from office.

To make matters worse, Chizuma’s office was crippled financially, leaving her struggling to carry out her duties effectively.

She was even arrested at dawn by heavily armed police officers, a move that sparked outrage both locally and internationally.

Pressure mounted on the Chakwera government to release her without conditions, and eventually, she was set free.

This fiasco made chizuma’s wings plucked off as she would not fly an ordinary pitch to tame corruption as her appointing authority had daggers on her neck.

Despite these setbacks, Chizuma remained resolute in her mission to root out corruption in Malawi but to no success as her office was financially suffocated.

However, she stayed true to her principles and carried out her duties without fear or favor though under duress.

Throughout her time as ACB Director, Chizuma has shown incredible courage and integrity in the face of adversity.

She has stood up to powerful forces and remained committed to the fight against corruption, even when it meant putting her own safety at risk.

As Martha Chizuma steps down as the ACB Director, her legacy of courage and integrity will endure.

Despite the challenges she has faced, she has never wavered in her dedication to justice and accountability.

Her commitment to the people of Malawi and her unwavering resolve to hold the corrupt accountable have left an indelible mark on the country’s fight against corruption.

In the end, Martha Chizuma’s tenure as the ACB Director may have been tumultuous, but her legacy will endure as a testament to the power of courage and integrity in the face of adversity.

Malawi

Somber mood in Malawi as parliament rejects legal bulldozer Martha Chizuma to head ACB

Maneno Chimulala 1 Comment
Ombudsman Martha Chizuma rejected by parliament to head ACB

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—11th May 11, 2021 will be remembered as day that Malawi lost its battle against corruption following the rejection of fearless corruption fighter Martha Chizuma by parliamentarians to head the Anti-Corruotion Bureau (ACB).

Chizuma, the popular Ombudsman, was President Lazarus Chakwera’s choice for new director general of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) after she emerged successful during the interview, beating nine men who were also vying for the position.

As per requirement, Chizuma appeared before the Public Appointments Committee (PAC), a parliamentary committee, on Tuesday to have her appointment duly confirmed, but surprisingly and contrary to citizens’ expectations, the lady has failed the interviews.

According to information made available to Maravi Post, nine members of parliament scored her 1 out 25 while the other nine scored her 25 out 25, scores that have sparked debate on the integrity of the members of the parliamentary committee.

According to some members of the Committee belong to the government argue that since the votes were tied at 9-9, there was supposed to be a tie-breaker, but Chairperson Joyce Chitsulo, who is also a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), denied to redo the scoring.

Ironically, the same Committee approved Chizuma as Ombudsman and in October last year renewed her contract on the basis of being competent.

The Tonse Alliance members of the Committee say the rejection of Martha Chizuma is a clear indication that corruption is deep-rooted in the country.

Speaking during a press briefing soon after the interview, the government parliamentarians said if the Committee does not redo the scoring, they will commence proceedings to impeach Chairperson Joyce Chitsulo.

However, social commentator Fryson Chodzi is of the view that both opposition and government sides did not want Chizuma to head the graft busting body.

“Cry Babies. MCP and Tonse Didn’t want Chizuma. It’s sad that Tonse Alliance MPs in the Public Appointments Committee (PAC) are crying for the rejection of Martha Chizuma. Let the truth be out. You can’t blame the chair or DPP for the outcome.

“DPP has only 5 members of Parliament in PAC after the seat of Vuwa Kaunda was declared vacant. The following are the members. Hon. Joyce CHITSULO (Chair), Hon Victor Musowa, Hon. White, Hon. Navicha Hon. Makande. Who are the other 4 who voted against her? Second, according to standing orders of Parliament, a person is supposed to score an average of 17 points and Chizuma scored an average of 14.5 points,” he wrote on his facebook page.

He added: “Let’s face the reality, Tonse [Mps] are the ones to blame for the rejection of Martha Chizuma and whatever they are doing in parliament and briefing the press is a face saver.”

Meanwhile, Neno South lawmaker Mark Katsonga has described Chizuma’s rejection as an assassination of the country.

Chizuma, 42, conducted investigations into abuses of public offices when she was Ombudsman.

She ordered senior technocrats at the Office of President and Cabinet, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Agriculture to issue a public apology for their handling of a $50 million (about K37 billion) loan from an Indian bank to procure tractors for rural farmers.

Chizuma also investigated how State machinery abused Covid-19 funds and unprocedural recruitments of top executives in various State agencies, including the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Defenders Coalition has announced that it will hold demonstrations on 18th May 2021 against the decision by the Parliament Committee on Public Appointment to reject the appointment of Martha Chizuma as new ACB director.

Gift Trapence , Chairperson of HRDC, said the grouping will lead Malawians to hold demonstrations at Parliament.

Trapence said HRDC has also engaged its lawyers to move the court on the matter.

Malawi, Top News

Lazarus Kadingus Chakwera feigns ignorance to the illegal freezing of Mutharika’s Personal bank accounts

Ufulu
Lazarus and APM
Lazarus Chakwera visiting Former President Peter Mutharika at his home in Mangochi

Malawi’s President  Lazarus Chakwera, the man with the silver tongue was once again lying to Malawians when he claimed that he did not know why former President Peter Mutharika’s accounts were frozen by his minions.

Malawians are not fools, no cabinet person even with Malawi’s overzealous judicial can do anything to a former President without a nod from the current President, however Kadingus is running away from responsibility because he has never taken any.

According to reporting by Malawi.24, Kadingus made the remarks in an interview with a local television station yesterday Saturday May 1st. According to the same reporting,

The Malawi  president during the interview was asked to respond to former President Peter Mutharika’s claims that his administration is persecuting him by freezing personal accounts that are also used to process his pension and allowance payments.

In his usual response of taking no responsibility, Kadingus Chakwera said he does not even know the accounts which were frozen. He vehemently denied knowing what accounts and why they were frozen.

It is easy to prove that Lazarus is lying, Once Peter Mutharika made the accusation, any leader with a clue would have followed up with his justice department. The fact that this never happened proves he knew all along and this was done with his approval.

Continuing to lie to Malawians, however, he claimed Malawi is a country of laws and if there is evidence that laws were broken in freezing the accounts then the courts should ensure that the laws be followed and not aim at persecuting a certain person.

“Since the case is in court, the former President has all the rights to use necessary procedures to follow up on the issues,” said Chakwera.

according to the same reporting Kadingus  added that he (Lazarus Chakwera) is also subject to court rulings because Malawi is guided by laws and not what a certain person says.

Former President Mutharika’s accounts were frozen by the Anti-Corruption Bureau in August last year when the bureau started investigating Mutharika over the K5 billion cement scandal where the former Malawi leader’s taxpayer pin was used to import bags of cement duty free.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) froze two accounts; one that is solely owned by the former president and another, a joint account with his wife former First Lady Gertrude Mutharika.

Efforts by Mutharika’s lawyers to have his bank accounts unfrozen have proven unsuccessful. This needs to change because No one has accused the former President of any wrongdoing. Even former Presidents deserve some deference from their successors. As President Mutharika correctly stated current President will at some point become former Presidents.

Last month, former President Peter Mutharika correctly said the government was persecuting him by freezing his accounts.

“The aim is simply to create hardship on me. Even the account where my retirement package comes in, that account is closed. So, my retirement benefits cannot come in.  The idea is to make me totally incompetent financially to make me impossible to support the DPP (Democratic Progressive Party), and therefore to destroy the DPP and make a one-party dictatorship,” he said.

President Lazarus Kadingus Chakwera, stop lying to Malawians. Take responsibility.

Follow the motto of an American President who said when the decision is up before you — and on my desk I have a motto which says The Buck Stops Here’ — the decision has to be made.” In his farewell address to the American people given in January 1953, President Truman referred to this concept very specifically in asserting that, “The President–whoever he is–has .

Malawi

Malawi leader Chakwera appoints Matemba as new Solicitor General, ACB to have new Czar

Maneno Chimulala
Reyneck Matemba moves to Ministry of Justice

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—Maravi Post has it on authority that President Lazarus Chakwera has appointed Reyneck Matemba as the new Solicitor general and secretary for justice.

 Matemba whose three year contract at Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) expired on December 1, 2020 confirmed to Nation Online that he has received the letter of appointment.

He is reported to have rejected an offer to renew his contract which expired on 1 December 2020.

Matemba was promoted to the position of ACB’s Director General by erstwhile President Peter Mutharika in 2017.

Until his appointment as ACB’s Director General, Matemba served as Deputy Director General, mainly responsible for prosecutions and had played a leading role in the prosecution of several cashgate cases.

Before moving to the graft busting body, Matemba also worked at Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs where he served as assistant chief legislative counsel, as General and in the Legal Aid Department.

Matemba is going while handling a high-level corruption case involving FDH Bank owner Thom Mpinganjira who was arrested by ACB on January 22, 2020 in connection to allegations of attempts to bribe five Constitutional Court judges presiding over the Presidential Elections Case.

Law and order, Malawi

Malawi’s judiciary junior staff report Chief Justice Nyirenda who presided over presidential election to Anti-Corruption Bureau

Maneno Chimulala
Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda has been reported to ACB

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—Concerned junior staff of the judiciary have reported Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda and Judicial Service Commission to the Anti-Corruption Bureau and office of the ombudsman for breaching recruitment procedures.

This is according to a letter dated 12th November, 2020 addressed to the ombudsman, ACB , HRDC, MAJAM , AMA president and copied to the Judicial Service Commission.

According to the letter in possession of the Maravi Post online publication, the junior staff argue that the law allows that only officers who are entitled to practice law in Malawi to be employed as professional Magistrates.

However, without proper justification the judicial service commission employed Tamanda Nyimba, who studied law outside Malawi,  as Senior Resident Magistrate.

“It is established by law that only officers who are entitled to practice law in Malawi may be employed as Professional Magistrates. Without a proper justification the Commission employed the Chair’s personal assistant His Worship Tamanda as a Senior Resident Magistrate. His Worship Tamanda Nyimba studied Law outside Malawi. He never sat for bar exams, neither did [he] he go to the Malawi Institute of Legal Education like the rest of us who studied Law outside Malawi,” reads the letter.

The concerned group argues that some of the people who are employed in the research department and magistracy sat for bar exams and are qualified for the position of a professional magistrate.

The letter adds that two P4 positions fell vacant and were given to relations of some members of the commission without conducting interviews. These are his worship Mzonde Mvula and his worship Kondwani Banda.

The concerned junior officers have also accused the Chief Justice of employing his own biological son Wanangwa Nyirenda as an intern for research department without any competitive interview and a year later promoting him to the position of Senior Resident Magistrate.

“There was no job advert when His Worship Nyirenda [Chief Justice’s son] was recruited as an intern into the Research Department. It started as a breakfast table chat with his dad. A year or so later he was formally hired as a Research Officer without undergoing a competitive recruitment process and a year later he was made Senior Resident Magistrate.

“All this was in clear breach of the established recruitment procedure in the Malawi Judiciary as well as in the Public Service generally. Like in the case of the recruitment of His Worship Tamanda Nyimba, the Chair did not declare interest or recuse himself from the sitting when the Commission was deliberating the recruitment and promotion of His biological son,” the letter reads further.

The aggrieved staff have challenged the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the other concerned parties to verify the raised issues with the Judicial Service Commission, the Human Resource Department of the Judiciary, and the Malawi Institute of Legal Education.

Law and order, Malawi

Mpinganjira’s lawyers withdraw case at Supreme Court: Malawi judges’ bribery case hearing soon

Maneno Chimulala
Thomson Mpinganjira

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—Lawyers for business tycoon Thomson Mpinganjira have withdrawn a case at the Supreme Court of Appeal, in which they were seeking a suspension of hearing the Mpinganjira’s  bribery case from High court.

One of the Mpinganjira’s lawyers, Tamando Chokotho said his client wanted the case to be tried back at the Magistrate court, where it was committed from by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).

Supreme Court justice Edward Twea who was hearing the case has since directed the High court to commence hearing of the case forthwith.

Meanwhile, the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB ) and Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) are claiming costs incurred in the suspension application case.

Mpinganjira is accused of attempting to offer MK100 Million to five judges who presided over the historical presidential election case.

However, his case was committed from the Magistrate Court to the High Court for trial.

Mpinganjira’s lawyers wanted the matter to be moved to the Magistrate Court because the certificate of committal by the Director of Public Prosecution did not give any reason for the transfer.

The defense also wanted to be given a chance to appeal at the High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal if Mpinganjira is not satisfied with the judgment by the Magistrate Court.

ACB Director Reyneck Matemba is on record to have accused Mpinganjira of trying to delay the case.

ACA arrested Mpinganjira in January this year after Chief Justice Andrew Nyireda tipped the graft busting body that someone wanted to bribe the five judges who heard the presidential election case as a Constitutional Court to rule in favour of the then ruling  Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Malawi

Malawi’s law scholar Chirwa pushes for replacement of ACB director Reyneck Matemba

Maneno Chimulala
The ACB director general Reyneck Matemba

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—Malawian Professor of Law, Danwood Chirwa, who is based in South Africa at the University of Cape Town has asked the Tonse Alliance government to consider replacing the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) director Reyneck Matemba.

According to Chirwa, Matemba’s recent statements on the cases of Bakili Muluzi and Thom Mpinganjira have done more damage to the graft busting body.

“If the Tonse government is serious about corruption, it must give priority to replacing the incumbent ACB Director before he does more damage to the institution. Of late he has been uttering things that don’t make sense.

“About Muluzi his predecessors decided long ago that the case was prosecutable. Now he’s damaging the case by making questionable statements. About the attempt to bribe judges, he promised that he would prosecute Mpinganjira as soon as judgement was delivered in the elections case.

“To date he hasn’t done this. On the contrary, he has allowed Mpinganjira to make false statements without revoking his bail. Let somebody else with the requisite experience be appointed to combat corruption with the commitment and energy the problem requires,” wrote Chirwa on his facebook page.

Matemba, in one of the interviews with the local media, suggested that former President Bakili Muluzi’s K1.7 billion case needed a political solution, a statement that forced some quarters to conclude that the ACB boss was unwilling to proceed with the case.

Danwood Mzikenge Chirwa holds a PhD from the University of the Western Cape, an LLM from the University of Pretoria, and an LLB (Hons) from the University of Malawi. Currently, he holds a full professorship at the University of Cape Town.

Over the last 14 years, Chirwa has taught Administrative Law, International Human Rights, Children’s Rights, and Constitutional Law.

He was a fierce critic of the former ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and he has of late become an enemy of the current Tonse Alliance government due to his no-holds-barred articles.

He recently accused Chakwera of breaching the law in appointing some government officials at the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) and Malawi Police Services (MPS).

Malawi

Malawi High Court upholds Chaponda’s acquittal in ‘Maize-gate’

Maneno Chimulala
George Chaponda: Acquitted

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—The High Court in Zomba has yesterday acquitted former Agriculture Minister George Chaponda in all three counts he was answering in an appeal case by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

Chaponda, who is a legislator for Mulanje South West, was arrested on July 19, 2017; five months after President Peter Mutharika fired him from cabinet as Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development due to public pressure on his alleged role in the controversial procurement of maize from Zambia.

In 2018 Zomba Chief Resident Magistrate Paul Chiotha acquitted Chaponda on all charges which include giving false information to Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), influencing a public officer to misuse his position and possession of foreign currency, but the ACB challenged the ruling in the High Court.

But in a ruling on Tuesday, Zomba High Court Judge Redson Kapindu upheld the judgment of the lower court after trashing all evidence presented by the graft-busting body in support of the counts, arguing they lacked elements of corruption.

Kapindu said the ACB’s grounds of appeal were “not valid.”

He also pointed out that the prosecution failed to prove that the foreign currency that was found in Chaponda’s house was connected to Maize-gate.

Between US$58,000 and MK124 million in cash stashed inside suitcases was found after a search at Chaponda’s home following investigations in the procurement of maize from Zambia.

But the court ordered Reserve Bank of Malawi to give back the money after the former minister applied to court that the money should be given back as it had not been proved to be proceeds of illicit activities or money laundering.

Chaponda justified why he is cash-rich, saying he has worked for the United Nations (UN) for over 20 years and has his own investments.

The former cabinet minister also submitted his assets declaration form to ACB which indicates he hold many bank accounts in foreign countries where he worked for UN.

A list of assets Chaponda declared as of February 1, 2017 shows that he has 20 real estate properties in Lilongwe, Blantyre, France, Luchenza, Mangochi, Thyolo and Chiradzulu.

According to Chaponda’s declaration, the source of funds for the property, valued at MK853 million, included bank loans and his earnings from the UN, United Kingdom, South Africa, France and his children abroad and Chaponda investments.