ACB probe clears Judge, Chakwera

 The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has cleared Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal judge Lovemore Chikopa over his alleged involvement in an attempt to bribe five High Court judges who heard the historic presidential election nullification petition.

In a separate case, the graft-busting body says it also investigated and cleared Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president Lazarus Chakwera following a complaint from an unnamed legislator that Chakwera was receiving his salary

 as Lilongwe North West  member of Parliament (MP) while boycotting official parliamentary business. as Lilongwe North West

In an interview in Lilongwe yesterday, ACB director general Reyneck Matemba confirmed that the bureau has separately concluded the investigations and cleared both Chikopa and Chakwera.

He said: “I can confirm that we have completed our investigations. We have no evidence against Honourable Justice of Appeal Chikopa, but I cannot divulge any further details. We will soon brief the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament on our findings. Until then, I cannot speak much on the issue.

“On the issue of Honourable Chakwera, we [the Bureau] received a complaint that he was getting a salary while he was not attending meetings of Parliament and our position is that this was not tantamount to abuse of office as he was still doing other functions of the office for which he was entitled to a pay.”

Chikopa’s investigation was linked to a case where Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda lodged a complaint to the ACB that two of the five High Court of Malawi judges—Healey Potani and Mike Tembo— who heard the presidential election nullification petition as a Constitutional Court had reported alleged attempts by a prominent businessperson to influence their judgement in favour of one of the parties in the case.

The other members of the panel were Ivy Kamanga, Dingiswayo Madise and Redson Kapindu. The judges were hearing a case in which two of the presidential candidates in the May 21 2019 Tripartite Elections—UTM Party president Saulos Chilima (first petitioner) and Chakwera as second p e t i t i o n e r — w a n t e d the court to nullify the presidential election over alleged irregularities, especially in the results management system.

In the case, President Peter Mutharika was the first respondent by virtue of being the declared winner and Malawi Electoral

 Justice of Appeal Chikopa, but I cannot divulge any further details. We will soon brief the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament on our findings. Until then, I cannot speak much on the issue.

“On the issue of Honourable Chakwera, we [the Bureau] received a complaint that he was getting a salary while he was not attending meetings of Parliament and our position is that this was not tantamount to abuse of office as he was still doing other functions of the office for which he was entitled to a pay.”

Chikopa’s investigation was linked to a case where Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda lodged a complaint to the ACB that two of the five High Court of Malawi judges—Healey Potani and Mike Tembo— who heard the presidential election nullification petition as a Constitutional Court had reported alleged attempts by a prominent businessperson to influence their judgement in favour of one of the parties in the case.

The other members of the panel were Ivy Kamanga, Dingiswayo Madise and Redson Kapindu. The judges were hearing a case in which two of the presidential candidates in the May 21 2019 Tripartite Elections—UTM Party president Saulos Chilima (first petitioner) and Chakwera as second p e t i t i o n e r — w a n t e d the court to nullify the presidential election over alleged irregularities, especially in the results management system.

In the case, President Peter Mutharika was the first respondent by virtue of being the declared winner and Malawi Electoral Commission was the second respondent.

In January, Matemba said there were two suspects in the judges’ alleged bribery case with one from the private sector and the other “working for one of the arms of government”. Few days after the announcement, the ACB arrested prominent businessperson Thomson Mpinganjira for his alleged role. He is currently on bail.

When contacted for his reaction on the matter yesterday, Chikopa reserved his comment.

Chikopa was on the seven-judge Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal panel that on Friday upheld the Constitutional Court judgement of February 3 that nullified the presidential election results and ordered a fresh election set for July 2.

On his part, Chakwera, who is presidential candidate for the nine-party Tonse Alliance in the forthcoming fresh election, yesterday expressed surprise that he was under investigation.

But he said he was delighted to have been cleared of wrongdoing.

Said Chakwera: “Going to Parliament is just part of the job of a member of Parliament. I was still doing some work with the DC’s [district commissioner] office and chiefs, but I refused to attend Parliament and said I would not be getting any allowances. When I was credited with some allowances, I paid the money back to Parliament.”

The presidential hopeful, who resigned as an MP last week to pave the way for his presidential election nomination, has refused to recognise the current Parliament in protest at how the disputed election was managed last year.

Chakwera has paired with Chilima as his running mate in the fresh election.