Lutepo, Mphwiyo call logs submitted – DPP
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Bruno Kalemba has indicated that Airtel and Telecom Networks Malawi (TNM) submitted the call logs to his office as per court order that the two mobile telecommunication companies to release call logs of former Ministry of Finance budget director Paul Mphwiyo and businessperson Oswald Lutepo for the period between June 1 and September 30 2013.
Former Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Ralph Kasambara has accused the duo of intimidation.
Kasambara, who was arrested for allegedly attempting to murder Mphwiyo, was granted a court order for Airtel and TNM to produce statements of call logs or call history for four of Mphwiyo and three of Lutepo’s cellphone numbers to the court.
He sought permission to privately prosecute the duo but Kalemba, in exercise of powers in prosecution of criminal matters, blocked the private prosecution and took over the matter.
The top prosecutor asked the two mobile companies to hand over the call logs to his office.
Kalemba confirmed that TNM and Airtel “submitted the call logs” to his office.
TNM were the first to comply with the court order and Airtel followed suit after the order was served on the compnay’s CEO on Christmas day.
However, Kalemba is reluctant to take the call logs to court following the Lutepo and Mphwiyo’s lawyer Kalekeni Kaphale asking Blantyre senior resident magistrate Viva Nyimba to vacate the order he issued earlier.
Lutepo and Mphwiyo, in their application to vacate the order, feared their right to privacy was going to be infringed upon, arguing the right to privacy is limitable but the limitation must not negate the essential content of the right, according to Section 4 of the Constitution.
They argued that the data Kasambara was looking for from the service providers was data that the complainant’s own telecommunication service providers must be keeping as it is data that, among other things, enables them to monitor all communications that terminate within their network for the purposes of charging termination or interconnection charges against the originating network.
Nyimba, who ordered an inter partes hearing on the matter, set January 13 2014 to hear the arguments before he decides whether to vacate his own order or uphold it.
The State is accusing Kasambara of conspiring to murder Mphwiyo who was shot outside his Area 43 residence in Lilongwe on September 13 2013.
Kasambara is currently out on a court bail after being arrested on November 8 for conspiracy to murder.
Lutepo, charged with money laundering, is also out on court bail after paying a K50 million bond. He is a chief suspect in the Capital Hill looting also known as the cashgate scandal, is being accused of stealing about K2.5 billion and part of his fortune was donated to PP when he was executive member of the party.
Mphwiyo, who was moved to the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) after surviving the gun shot was touted by President Joyce Banda as a victim of her anti-corruption drive.
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