Kaliati is free politician, no charges –ACB
Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, Patricia Kaliati, is a free politician with no corruption charges hanging on her head as widely believed as Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) says there is no docket for her.
Former Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Rosemary Kanyuka gave consent to the bureau to prosecute Kaliati on corruption allegations in the award of Nyika-Vwaza Ecotourism Reserve concession to a United Arab Emirates firm when she was minister of Tourism in the first DPP administration.
While serving as Information and Tourism minister, Kaliati is alleged to have received kickbacks from a United Arab Emirates bidder on the Nyika-Vwaza tender.
But Kaliati has always denied the allegations, saying her trip to Dubai, which was sponsored by the bidder, was transparent.
On Saturday, the graft-busting body claimed a docket was not opened against Kaliati.
ACB spokesperson Egritta Ndala said there is no case so far against Kaliati in relation to the allegations.
In quotes attributed to Ndala in the Weekend Nation newspaper of July 12, “the bureau is still waiting for some responses from a foreign government authority through mutual legal assistance.”
Ndala added: “The inaction on the case is because we are still waiting for the response from that foreign government.”
Kaliati was also freed in the reason case which she was facing together with President Peter Mutharika and other Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials because Mutharika. The State discontinued the case because Mutharika, as President, is immune to prosecution under Section 91 (2) of the Constitution.
