LILONGWE (Maravi Post)–There is division between the Director of the Malawi Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Lucas Kondowe and his Deputy Renex Matemba over office issues. Continue reading Malawi Anti-Corruption Bureau in confusion as top bosses demonstrate gross incompetency on office matters
On two consecutive Fridays, I argued that the Anti- Corruption Bureau (ACB) has mutated into a toothless bulldog incapable of scaring anything.
Blue Talkers, I erred. I led you astray. Mea culpa.
So, while you are still in the mood of forgiving overzealous clowns as you recently did with Hon Grace Obama Chiumia, please forgive me.
Truth is: The ACB is now a rabid hyena, mauling everything free from rabies that inadvertently crosses its path; but fiercely protecting fellow hyenas rotten and sick to the core with the highly contagious and vicious disease called corruption.
And that while stakeholders have questioned ACB’s effectiveness since its establishment in 1998, the current ACB is breaking all records and will grab the gold for not only failing to fight corruption but for zealously and jealously abetting and condoning it.
To his credit, now let us call a spade by its name, Monsieur Lucas Kondowe’s incompetence and unfitness for the leadership of the Bureau are a reflection of the same in the appointing authority for reasons now becoming clear.
Before proceeding, allow me to reiterate that as long as the ACB remains subjugated to a corrupt appointing authority, we might as well close it.
From recent developments that saw its director starring in two separate headlines, we would be better off, far better off without such a stinking organisation.
Look at this: After throwing spanners in Bakili Muluzi’s straightforward K1.7 billion fraud case and after providing refuge to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) National Organising Secretary Richard Makondi and businessperson Mohammad Kassam of Globe Electronics on Cashgate-related cases, one would have thought Kondowe and his team would have the decency to begin redeeming what is left of their reputation.
But no, not this lot.
They have now raised their game, mixing selective acceptance of the Attorney General’s (AG) advice with cherry picking on when to be independent and when not to be, as the situation suits their hyena schemes.
Let me elaborate.
While Kondowe was lightning-quick in adopting and waving around AG Kalekeni Kaphale’s patently bad counsel against the naming, shaming and prosecuting the seven ministers involved in the K577 billion-now-K236billion Cashgate, he has now made a U-turn and trashed the same AG in the K6.8 billlion contract awarded to Terrastone Limited by the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera), conveniently shoving the independence card onto our noses.
Where was this independence when the same Kaphale was gagging him with respect to the President’s Cashgate tainted hyenas?
In case you missed last Saturday’s weekenders, both the Malawi News and Weekend Nation were unequivocal, saying Mera complied with all statutory requirements and sought and obtained a no-objection from the Office of Director of Public Procurement (ODPP) before awarding Terrastone Limited the contract to construct its office complex in Lilongwe.
All t’s were crossed and the i’s dotted. But you know what hit Mera?
In a Mafioso manoeuvre that would leave Al Pacino reeling with envy, not just anyone but Kondowe jumped in, threatened Mera’s Chief Executive Ralph Kamoto that he would burn his fingers if he did not award the contract to Sagecoa and he, Kondowe, would personally put the procurement process in neutral gear.
And behold, the process is now in neutral gear, Mera will get an indefensible legal suit and a heavy fine which you and I, the Malawi taxpayer, will pay, thanks to Kondowe, our protector.
Who does that?
What is worrying is not the ACB’s intervention, no; to the contrary, a proactive ACB is what Malawi has been missing. Rather, it is the professional [mis] conduct by Kondowe in attempting to illegally arm-twist a public official breaking no law.
While Kondowe happily accepted being gagged on the seven corrupt hyenas in Peter Mutharika’s cabinet, when advised on Mera, he climbed an anthill, shouting himself hoarse that he cannot be advised by the AG because ACB is independent.
Double standards or a hitherto innocent soul heading to Hades?
Compare and contrast this: While seven ministers were implicated in the K236 billion DPP ‘Cashgate’ and the independent ACB Czar and Mutharika are conveniently looking the other way; and while ACB investigators found Makondi and Kassam with cases to answer and warrants of arrest were duly obtained but Kondowe is content to sit on it; on a tip-off from a connected hyena, Kondowe springs like a hungry hyena, too happy to pounce on a hapless Mera.
And what is more, instead of just investigating the tip-off, Kondowe directs Mera to award the contract to Sagecoa and not the duly selected and ODPP-approved contractor.
Again I ask: Who does that?
Perhaps more poignantly, where is all this taking us to? My fellow Blue Talkers, we are in grave danger.
Mutharika, for better or for worse, has elected to serve as the Caiaphas of corruption and, by extension, all his henchmen have assumed roles of deacons in their collective quest to pay homage to the evil called corruption.
This prospect, aided and abetted by an equally corrupt ACB Czar, is the reason Malawi is doomed to remain hopelessly behind.
You cannot tolerate a president who dines and wines with corrupt hyenas and an overzealous bootlicking ACB Czar protecting the very thieves he is supposed to send to jail and yet eager to persecute those following due process to give us, the taxpayers, value for money; and expect progress.
No ways.
If this combination is not checked in time, it is hell on earth for us, our children and their children.
To put it in black and white, these hyenas are looting so much of our funds that unlike previous governments, they cannot afford to adequately subsidise university fees leading to the ridiculous University fee-increase, and the laughable presidential decrease of a mere K50,000.
It is only hyenas that can think of a banquet hall, to dine and wine, while the rest of us die like chickens because of lack of essential drugs and medical equipment.
Is this a travesty of justice? No. This is the outcome of muvi woyang’anira; time to say ‘enough is enough’ is now.
Just when light at the end of tunnel of the protracted MwK1.7bn corruption trial of former president Bakili Muluzi was about to shine, boom! A bombshell exploded!
Not one, but two prosecutors were no longer able to finalise the case. The lead prosecutor, in fact, threw in a towel.
Before I proceed, a disclaimer: this is not about the substance, evidence or otherwise, nor presumption of anyone’s guilt or innocence, nor anything to that effect.
This is about the tomfoolery surrounding the above case, whose logical conclusion is long overdue.
As such, even though the case is still “live”; as long as I don’t try to influence or prejudice the logical outcome, I believe I have every right to voice my utter disgust at sick jokes happening all too often in this case plus the Anti-Corruption Bureau’s (ACB) shameless display of incompetence and lack of leadership in pursuing cases of grand corruption.
Having cleared this, I am ready to rumble.
You all know that Reyneck Matemba, ACB lead prosecutor for over two years, recused himself from the case on ‘personal grounds… blah! blah! blah!’
To say this was confusing is an understatement. The presiding judge’s only remark was: “The state is in total disarray”.
With due respect, I beg to differ with the learned Judge. The State, I hereby submit, has never been and is not in “disarray”.
Knowing where we have come from, this is a well-choreographed drama, with a series of yet to be seen scenes, where the prosecutors, if anything, are pawns in the game of politics-as-usual.
If truth be told, the 24 hour delay by the ACB Czar to soothe the public that the case will continue, only sharpened foreboding for everyone hoping for a logical conclusion of the case. The fact that the ACB is yet to regroup is just adding a stink to the foul air surrounding this case.
For the record, let me state that I am not against the recusal per se. Recusals are normal in legal proceedings and happen every day.
A prosecutor, defence counsel or indeed a presiding judge can and do recuse themselves for various reasons, and counsel Matemba cannot be an exception. He acted well within his rights.
Having said that, the manner and timing of the recusal, the drama and confusion it caused in the courtroom, plus the knee-jerk assurance from the ACB top dog that came only a day later, are fertile grounds for speculation.
And, just as counsel Matemba cannot be questioned for acting within his rights, should you wish to speculate, you will also be acting entirely within your rights.
All is fair.
The question is: where do you want to begin? I don’t know about you, but I for sure, know where I’ll begin.
Starting point is Lilongwe, the ACB’s registered headquarters. So, here we are, with a lawyer of presumably more than average intelligence, driving all the way to Blantyre High Court of Law, to recuse himself from a very high profile case, without arranging for continuation.
This could not have been for lack of replacements, nay. Stand-ins could have been from within the ACB or from private practice. counsel Kamudoni Nyasulu, you may recall, has handled such cases in the past, and he held his own. I remember a convict calling him names after a job well done. And there are many other lawyers with the same knack.
Does the failure to set a Plan B correspond to normal behaviour and decorum of the brilliant ACB lead prosecutor we have learnt to respect?
Nope.
But let’s not rush into conclusions, lapses do happen.
Moving on, from the delayed assurance by the ACB boss, either the Czar was in the dark about the lead counsel’s intention to recuse himself, or the ACB Czar was hoping we would think he is “equally confused”, or counsel Matemba—when leaving Lilongwe—had not yet succumbed to the overwhelming “personal reasons… blah! blah! blah!”
If the last scenario is the case, the question is: did something happen on the way to heaven? Or, what happened on the way to Blantyre?
Look at it this way: counsel Matemba is not just another lawyer, he is Deputy Director and de facto leader of the ACB’s legal team.
One would therefore expect a professional of his calibre to discuss any decision, personal or otherwise, that has to do with his official duties with his boss, Lucas Kondowe and/or indeed the entire ACB legal team; to forestall confusion.
In the absence of evidence to all the above, If indeed the ACB has the stomach to continue the case as Kondowe wants us to believe, the recusal would have been less dramatic and a replacement would have ready not only to take over, but to hit the ground running.
On the contrary, here we are now – the court has been waiting for over a month –as the ACB, operates more or less like army whose general has been captured by the enemy camp.
Are these things adding up?
While we are at it, look at this convenient coincidence: the state witness, who happens to be Matemba’s predecessor, just chanced not to be in court that day to continue testifying.
I will not dwell on the spontaneous application made by the defence counsel to have the case dismissed which I will discuss another day.
Do you still insist that things are adding up?
Imagine if you can, a plane captain abandoning a long-haul flight while airborne, without arranging for the first officer to take control of the flight.
Would you actually say that this “adds up and happens” all the time?
With mass-suicidal types, yes. But counsel Matemba is a stable and usually responsible man who cannot sink this low, unless…
Therefore, like many other Malawians, I have every right to doubt that the learned counsel is this reckless. And this is why people are justified in concluding that things are not adding up.
Mind you, no-one is saying that Muluzi is guilty or not guilty, no.
This is for the judge to determine after weighing the evidence, and for God above to discern which is which.
But come r a in or sunshine, due process must take place. And the less the drama, the better for the credibility of all the players in this case.
Anything less is a travesty of justice, blatant deceit, and a clear demonstration that the Mutharika Administration cannot fight corruption because corruption is the very bread and butter that it forages on. Full stop.
Check this: with late Issa Njauju’s murderers still roaming freely, what would stop them from reaching and in a mafia-style, “persuading” anyone, to do anything, no matter how irrational it might appear to you and me?
And if such happened to be the lead prosecutor, wouldn’t the ACB be in “disarray”?
And check this final piece of the jigsaw: as the Court waits for ACB to regroup, the ACB Czar goes on leave, leaving the Court in suspense.
Need I say more about this?
However, we should not overly concern ourselves for three reasons.
First, we should remember George Orwell’s statement that in a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
Secondly, that the truth does not change according to one’s ability to stomach it. It remains the truth, to come out on the day that the sun shall rise and cast light on the darkness.
Thirdly, it is said that the test of the pudding is in the eating. If the President Mutharika wants to convince the world that what has thrown spanners in the works of the K1.7 billion case actually “adds up”, then he should dare to give ACB the requisite independence, space and security to pursue this case to the very end so that we can move on, with a precedent firmly set, into the K577 billion Cashgate that happened between 2004 to 2012 under the auspices of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
If the problem, on the other hand, lies with and within the ACB, then as George Chaponda schooled us back when he was sitting in opposition benches in parliament, a fish rots from head down.
A shake-up at the ACB is long overdue for the dwindling confidence in this body which is reflecting very badly on the appointing Authority.
If doing nothing is an option, then no-one should blame yours truly and others for speaking out on behalf of the silent majority, for whom the K1.7 billion could have gone a long way.
To conclude, do you know who said: “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened”?
Never mind who it was, the only thing that matters is that he was right and that I have duly proved that nothing is adding up.
Director of Malawi’s graft-busting body—the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB)—desperately wants to have enterprising private practice lawyer Frank Mbeta of Mbeta & Co. law firm arrested over a case he won against FDH bank. In the case, the court ordered FDH bank to pay MK784 million in damages to Maranatha Girls Academy Ltd, the party Mbeta was representing.
Our investigations reveal that lawyer Mbeta followed the letter and spirit of the law to have the judgment of the court effected. And this did not please FDH bank which consulted Kondowe for help.
Why did FDH bank consult Kondowe?
Our investigators have found that Lucas Kondowe is in deep financial trouble as he owes First Merchant Bank (FMB)millions of Malawi Kwacha in unpaid loans. Not so long ago FMB made a move to acquire the deputy director’s BlueBird Lodge in Limbe but FDH bank came to his rescue after National Bank gave him a cold shoulder.
As they say, scratch my back I will scratch yours, Kondowe when consulted by FDH bank advised the bank to cook evidence imputing misconduct on Mbeta’s handling of the case so that ACB can use that as a basis for his arrest thereby creating a room for the bank to play hide and seek on the payment of the damages.
Our investigations further reveal that this is not the first time Lucas Kondowe has bayed for Mbeta’s blood as he once failed to have him arrested on frivolous charges after he won a case involving businessperson Karamat Ullah Chaudhry.
Frank Mbeta was tight-lipped when our investigators reached him for his reaction to this development.
“I know nothing about what you’re saying. It is simply the nature of our profession that we crush shoulders once in a while; but that is normal. However, I’d not be surprised if what you’re insinuating gets to see the light of day given my troubled history with Lucas Kondowe,” Frank Mbeta said.
Our efforts to talk to the spokesperson of the ACB Egritta Ndala proved futile as we went to press but from our previous questionnaire on the body’s duties, no official let alone a director is allowed to use their position to settle scores with their enemies.
