Tag Archives: Michael Goba Chipeta

Law and order, Politics

Uladi Mussa passport fraud case adjourns to Dec 6

Maravi Post Reporter

LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)– The High Court in Lilongwe on Friday, adjourned to December 6, 2017, hearing of the case in which former minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security Uladi Mussa, is answering charges of aiding about 55 foreigners to illegally obtain citizenship while he was a cabinet minister.

In his ruling, Justice Chifundo Kachale. said the Court will meet for three consecutive days from December 6-8 this year.

The former Home Affairs Minister Mussa, who is also the Peoples Party (PP) Acting President, claims that the case is politically-motivated.

When the Court met on Friday, it transpired that there were some discrepancies in the disclosures by the State, as some documents the defence team introduced, and those shared with the Court, did not have copies.

Justice Kachale observed that because of the big size of the disclosures, there was need to sort out the anomalies before witnesses proceed to give testimonies.

State prosecutor Kamudoni Nyasulu also told the Court that there were only errors in terms of compilation of the disclosures and asked the Court that they meet after the adjournment and have the documents sorted out.

But Michael Goba-Chipeta, who is representing one of the accused persons in the case, Pascal Lwanda, after the hearing said that he was satisfied with the explanation by the State regarding the discrepancies.

“All the discrepancies and everything else have been sorted. We were properly guided by Kamudoni [Nyasulu] himself about where to place the documents.

“So we managed to do that properly, but since the exercise took a bit of time, the Court had no choice but to adjourn to another date,” said Chipeta

On Thursday, first State witness, former Chief immigration Officer Hudson Mankhwala, outlined the process for obtaining various permits such as student, visitors, citizenship, temporary residence and permanent residence.

In his opening statement before parading the first witness, Nyasulu said evidence would show that staff at the Immigration Department and members of the public eclipsed senior public service management on the pretext of serving the leadership at the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security.

The State Prosecutor said this incompetence created a fertile ground in the ministry for fraud.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested Mussa in March this year, on charges of negligence and abuse of office. Mussa however, at the time said that his arrest was politically-motivated.

The PP Acting leader thereafter, surrendered himself to the ACB after reports surfaced that theBureau wanted to arrest him in relation to the granting of citizenship and passports to foreigners.

Mussa is also currently battling a
Court injunction he obtained against his suspension as the People’s Party leader by the party’s national executive committee.

His suspension follows the interest he showed to stand at the party convention by arguing that the PP leader Joyce Banda tenure had expired.

Law and order

Khatho gets Supreme Court stay order against MLS on water project

Maravi Post Reporter

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)- Justice Lovemore Chikopa of the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeals, on Thursday granted a stay order to Khato Civils (Pvt) Limited, pending an appeal against Malawi Law Society (MLS).

The Supreme Court determination quashes the injunction which High Court registry in Zomba granted last week, thereby stopping all groundwork activities for government’s $500 million (MK400 billion) Salima-Lilongwe water project.

MLS obtained an injunction last Friday, but Justice Chikopa, sitting as a single judge on the bench of the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeals, granted Khatho, which was contracted by the Lilongwe Water Board (LWB) for the multi-billion kwacha project, a stay order.

Chikopa in his determination, declared that the interlocutory injunction the High Court granted to the Law Society, has been put aside.

The Judge said MLS and Khatho should attend the Supreme Court sitting ?on October 4 2017? “for a hearing on whether or not to sustain the stay hereby granted.”

The ruling means Khatho can return to its activities it was already undertaking until a determination of the matter is made.

Lawyer representing MLS, Michael Goba Chipeta, argues that the water project contravenes the Environmental Management Act as some procedures were not followed.

But Khatho Civils through its lawyer Frank Mbeta, argues earlier that MLS still had administrative remedies to address its concerns, adding the facts relied upon when the lawyers’ body filed its application for the judicial review, were incorrect and misleading.

Khatho’s lawyers also observed that the MLS based its case on the wrong assumption that Khatho Civils were oblivious of the contents of the Environmental Management Act, and had intended not to comply with the legal requirements or unmindful of compliance of the same.