Some Chisale targeted cars owned by chiefs

As the State is pursuing a civil case to forfeit property owned by former president Peter Mutharika’s personal bodyguard Norman Chisale, Weekend Nation has established that some of ‘his’ listed 86 cars are in the hands of chiefs.

Some chiefs, members of the clergy, a politician and a former president of Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU) have confirmed receiving the vehicles appearing on the court documents in the Chisale preservation civil case as gifts from the former president.

Traditional Authority (T/A) Tsabango of Lilongwe said, in an interview last Saturday, he received his vehicle from Mutharika and was surprised with inquiries being made connecting his car to the Chisale case.

“It is not only me; there are several other chiefs who also received cars; but not from Mr Chisale. But speaking for myself, yes, I received one but not from Mr Chisale, but from the former president,” Tsabango said.

On the court case list, the vehicle T/A Tsabango received is a Toyota Corolla, chassis number NZE1213201743 and engine number 1NZ813311.

Ken Msonda, a member of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, also confirmed in an interview that he received from Mutharika a Toyota Voxy registration KA 5894.

“I received this from the former president. When I was selling it, I made sure I followed all the procedures that included paying duty for it. I never wanted to be in trouble in future,” he said.

Luther Mambala, former MCTU president said in an interview, the trade union received a Toyota Voxy from Mutharika, making it clear that it was not a donation to the institution.

“We received that vehicle as an institution. I did not want it to be personalised. When the donation was made, a few of us went to State House in Lilongwe for viewing, but it became the property of MCTU,” he said.

Paramount Lundu of Chikwawa also confirmed in an interview yesterday that he received a vehicle from Mutharika, but said he was not aware of any developing issues regarding it.

Asked about the discoveries that some of the vehicles are in the hands of other individuals and what could be the way forward, Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), one of the State agencies interested to have Chisale’s property forfeited, requested to have the legal process for forfeiture take its course first.

“We will not be swallowing before chewing. Allow the processes to run before the honourable court,” DPP Steven Kayuni said.

The law enforcement agencies pursuant to the coordination strategy, Kayuni said, obtained the preservation order for civil forfeiture of the stated properties.

“The essence of it is to preserve those awaiting forfeiture or final order. If you might recall the matter was before the Constitutional Court as well challenging the powers of DPP in civil forfeiture proceedings.

“The Attorney General, too, was part of those proceedings. The honourable panel of the Constitutional Court judges agreed with the law enforcement agencies’ argument. We are now in the process of dealing with forfeiture order before the very court that granted the preservation order,” he said.

The DPP said some preliminary issues have been raised and timelines for responses and all issues have been given by the court.

All agencies, said Kayuni, including the AG, DPP, Financial Intelligence Authority, Anti-Corruption Bureau and Malawi Police Service were jointly working hard on the issue.

But Chisale’s lawyer, Chancy Gondwe, challenged the State agencies, in an interview, to do their homework thoroughly before opening cases against individuals.

“These forfeiture issues should not have come at this stage. Most of the cars on the list and targeted for forfeiture are owned by chiefs, members of the clergy and some politicians. Others are owned by the political party [DPP]. Prof. Mutharika, being a president then, could not have been importing goods personally; he used Mr. Chisale, his assistant and director of security to do such tasks in some instances.

“This applies to some assets such as houses which Mr. Chisale acquired; he obtained a K200 million loan which is still being serviced; and due to the State’s action to freeze his property, he has received warnings from his bankers on the loan not being serviced,” he said.

Gondwe said the forfeiture case is due to come in court in December.

He said they have so far filed preliminary issues to be resolved before Chisale files his sworn statements in opposition to the forfeiture proceedings.