Chisale faces K900m court bill
Former president Peter Mutharika’s personal bodyguard Norman Chisale faces a K944 million court bill as costs for unsuccessfully challenging a preservation order for the State to seize his property worth K5 billion.
Court documents filed at the High Court Lilongwe Principal Registry (Constitutional Referral No1 of 2021), which we have seen, show that the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and its partners the Anti–Corruption Bureau (ACB) as well as the Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) have filed combined bill costs totaling K562.7 million while office of Attorney General (AG) has made an application of K381.3 million in costs.
Both DPP Steven Kayuni and AG Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda confirmed in separate interviews on Thursday that they have filed the applications and they are waiting for the court to set a date to hear the applications.
Said Kayuni: “As you might recall this is a joint effort of the law enforcement coordination strategy. The Constitutional Court decided in the State’s favour and the applicants were condemned in costs. DPP, FIA and ACB have duly filed for costs in this litigation to recover the crucial taxpayers’ money that was spent during the attendance of the matter in the Constitutional Court.”
In a brief interview the AG said: “We are recovering what the public lost to defend the case.”
In the case, State agencies accuse Chisale of acquiring billions of kwacha worth of assets illegally which the State seized in February 2021.
The seized properties comprise 86 motor vehicles and 21 real estate properties, including residential houses and commercial buildings in Blantyre, Lilongwe, Dedza, Ntcheu and Mangochi.
According to a declaration of assets form which Weekend Nation sourced last year from the Office of the Director of Public Officers’ Declarations, Chisale declared several properties across the country.
The former president’s aide, who has been making donations of assets such as churches and vehicles, declared among others, that some of his luxury vehicles were gifts from his friends in London, Dubai and Lilongwe.
The freeze order also affected two bank accounts, one held at National Bank of Malawi, Capital City Service Centre with a cash balance of over K30 million and the other at First Capital Bank with a cash balance of over K87 million.
In February last year, the DPP through the Assets Forfeiture Unit, FIA, ACB and Malawi Police Service Fiscal and Fraud Department and other law enforcement agencies applied for the seizure order.
In January this year, the High Court of Malawi sitting as a Constitutional Court dismissed with costs Chisale’s application challenging the preservation order.
In a telephone interview on Thursday, Chisale’s lawyer Chauncy Gondwe said the defence team is yet to be served with the documents.
Said Gondwe: “Those documents are with court and we cannot competently comment on them until we have been served with the documents. The date for hearing has also not been set yet.”
Commenting on Chisale’s seized property, Kayuni observed that the State is waiting for a final order from the court on the matter.
In his application, Chisale wanted the Constitutional Court to determine whether Kayuni was within his mandate to begin civil proceedings by obtaining the preservation order when Section 99 of the Constitution stipulates that the DPP’s mandate is on criminal matters only.
Chisale also wanted the Constitutional Court to determine whether the application for a preservation order is not a violation of his and other accused’s right to privacy and to own property.
The others are Deborah Zimatha Chisale, Esnart Guga, Floney Guga, Janet Fatch Kamanga and Christina Mvula.
In the ruling, the three-judge panel comprising Justices Dingiswayo Madise, Kenani Manda and Anneline Kanthambi observed that preservation orders under the Financial Crimes Act (FCA) are there to combat crimes which is a matter of public policy.
“Preservation Orders are part of the combined regime which constitutes preservation orders as the first step, and forfeiture,” reads part of the ruling.
The Constitutional Court referred the case back to the High Court to continue with the trial.
On April 13 2021, High Court Judge Mike Tembo referred the case to then Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda to certify it as a constitutional matter.
Chisale’s personal wealth came under the spotlight in the aftermath of the court-sanctioned June 23 2020 fresh presidential election that ushered in a new government. In July 2020, Fiscal Police interrogated Chisale alongside former State Residences chief of staff Peter Mukhito in connection with their alleged role in the importation of cement allegedly using the president’s duty-free status.
In an earlier interview, Nyirenda, commenting on whether State’s action to seize Chisale’s property infringed his right to own property, said Chisale’s assets were questionable as he was earning a monthly salary of not more than K500 000 at the time.
He said: “When we talk about the right to own property, we are not talking about the illegitimate property. We are talking about the right to acquire property that has been legitimately earned.”
