Veep status under spotlight

President Lazarus Chakwera’s suspension of Vice-President Saulos Chilima’s delegated roles following corruption allegations effectively bars him from Public Sector Reforms and acting president tasks, legal experts have said.

The experts, who include the Malawi Law Society (MLS), said the key non-delegated roles which the Constitution accords Chilima is still being part of the Cabinet and taking over the presidency if the President is impeached, incapacitated or dies.

Said MLS president Patrick Mpaka in a written response: “Under Section 79 of the Constitution, the Vice-President’s (VP) functions are to assist the President and exercise the powers and functions conferred by the Constitution or by any Act of Parliament and by the President…

“It means that the VP will strictly remain with those functions given by the Constitution or some other statute. For example, under Section 92 of the Constitution, Cabinet is composed of the President, the Vice-President and ministers and deputies so VP will remain a member of the Cabinet.”

In a national address in Lilongwe on Tuesday, Chakwera suspended Chilima’s powers after he and 52 other public officers were implicated by Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) businessperson Zuneth Sattar’s report of his alleged corrupt dealings.

The President said: “As such, the best I can do for now, which is what I have decided to do, is to withhold from his office any delegated duties while waiting for the bureau to substantiate its allegations against him and to make known its course of action in relation to such.”

Chilima has been heading the Malawi Public Sector Reforms Management Unit which aims to improve public sector performance.

It is a zone which had become a tower of his political life since he became Vice-President 2014 before being stripped off the role due to a spat with the former president Peter Mutharika.

Asked if the withholding of delegated roles effectively freezes his reforms’ role, private practice lawyer John Gift Mwakhwawa said: “That’s what essentially that statement must be understood to mean, that the Vice-President is, at present, not delegated to any aspect.”

On his part, Danwood Chirwa, professor of Law at South Africa based University of Cape Town said the President’s statement could be interpreted in many ways.

He said: “The President’s public statement that he’s withholding powers from the Vice-President could mean that he won’t delegate new functions to that office.

“It could also mean that he is taking back the functions he had previously delegated. It is not clear at this stage whether he means both or only the first of these.”

Chirwa further pointed out that the upholding of the delegated powers means that he cannot be in charge of State affairs when the  President is temporarily out.

Said the scholar: “In case of travel by the President, the Constitution gives him power to delegate his functions to any other Cabinet member.

“This doesn’t have to be the Vice. However, in case of incapacitation or death, the Vice-President takes over. No other person.”

As we went for press, the Office of the President and Cabinet had not responded to our questionnaire seeking clarification on the Vice-President’s role in public reforms.

The State House, Attorney General Thabo Chakaka-Nyirenda and Minister of Information and Digitalisation said they were not in a position to respond.

In a statement signed by the Office of the Vice-President director of communications Pilirani Phiri, Chilima on Thursday denied allegations that he corruptly benefited from the United Kingdom-based Malawian businessperson Zuneth Sattar.

Reads the statement: “The report apparently makes serious allegations of criminal conduct against the Vice-President although, as correctly observed by the President in his address, the report does not present any detail of the alleged criminal conduct.

“The Vice-President finds the manner in which the bureau has proceeded very troubling. The bureau has, in essence, accused him of a crime without providing any particulars or evidence in support of the crime.”

The statement said the Vice-President further finds it curious that the bureau has not yet confronted him so that he provides his side of the story.

Meanwhile, the MLS has called for the speedy resolution of the issue as it has a potential of creating a crisis.

Said Mpaka on Saturday: “Under the Constitution the VP is not immune from criminal process so the ACB is free to take up any criminal process against him if there is evidence of such malpractice by the VP.

“So, it’s quite a complex situation which can easily create an impasse because, of necessity, there should be practical intersection of the duties of the VP under the Constitution, under statute and under the delegated duties from the President since all that derives from the constitutional authority of the two offices.”

He further called for support for the ACB so it can “quickly and urgently resolve the issues that have given rise to the situation so that the country can move forward as one unit.”