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Chief justice faces summon

 

Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee says it plans to summon the head of the Judiciary, Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda, to explain how the government branch processes corruption-related cases.

Committee chairperson Maxwell Thyolera said in an interview on Thursday that his committee’s intention followsthe recent acquittal of former Cabinet minister George Chaponda and businessperson Rashid Tayub.

Chaponda, a former minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, was answering three charges of giving false information to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), influencing a public officer to misuse his position and possession of foreign currency while Tayub was answering the charge of persuading a public officer to misuse his position. They both denied the charges.

Thyolera: Thyolera: He should explain

Thyolera said his committee was not satisfied with the Zomba Magistrate’s Court determination; hence, would want to engage the head of judiciary on how corruption cases are managed in general.

He claimed the court verdict had alarmed the public and raised “serious questions” on the country’s efforts in responding to corruption.

Said Thyolera: “The case of honourable Chaponda is just one example. People have raised so many questions on the ruling because of the evidence and the statements that were recorded from the parties.

“Despite the doctrine of separation of powers, as Legal Affairs Committee, we play an oversight role over the Judiciary…  and it is in that context that we want to engage them. Besides, Parliament is the only body that can engage the Judiciary and impeach judges if found to be in the wrong…”

The committee’s demand comes barely days after some civil society organisations (CSOs) faulted the graft-busting body for allegedly presenting a weaker case against Chaponda and Tayub; hence, their acquittal. They further asked ACB to appeal the matter to High Court.

But in an interview with The Nation, ACB director general Reyneck Matemba said the CSOs were commenting on the matter from an uninformed point of view.

He said people should leave the ACB and other agencies pursuing anti-corruption matters to work without interference.

There was no immediate comment from Judiciary as High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal registrar Agnes Patemba was not available.

But Sunduzwayo Madise—who teaches law at Chancellor College, a constituent college of the University of Malawi (Unima)—said there was nothing wrong with the committee summoning the Chief Justice. He described the move as “accountability”.

However, he observed that the committee’s action to call the Chief Justice over a case that was duly adjudicated by a judicial officer was “overreaching their mandate”.

Said Madise: “The different arms are accountable to each other. That said, calling the CJ to discuss a specific case is parliamentary overreach and must not be encouraged.”

Political scientist Ernest Thindwa said, in his view, the committee was entitled to raise questions to the Chief Justice if it was not impressed by the performance of the judiciary.

“Each of these has a role to play where the other branch is seen not to be performing to the expected standards. So, the summoning, in my view, is in the public interest,” he said.

Chaponda, who is also governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) vice-president for the Southern Region, was arrested on July 9 last year alongside Tayub and Grace Mijiga Mhango, a businesswoman and chairperson of Grain Traders and Processors Association of Malawi.

In January 2017, President Peter Mutharika ordered an investigation into the 2016 $34.5 million government maize order after a Zambian opposition leader said he had seen documents showing Malawi had been charged $345 instead of $245 per tonne for 100 000 tonnes of Zambian maize.

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