Cdedi queries ACB for inaction on second suspect in Malawi  judges bribery case

Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (Cdedi)  has written the  Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) director general Reyneck Matemba to query for its inaction over the second suspect in the  alleged attempt to bribe High Court of Malawi judges which heard the  presidential election nullification petition case.

Cdedi interim executive director Silvester Namiwa, a former State House official who resigned last year ahead of May 21 polls, said  they have asked ACB  nto to continue shielding the particulars of  the second suspect.

The  graft-busting body arrested business mogul Thom Mpinganjira for his alleged role in the attempt.

In January this year,  Matemba a kept a lid on names of the alleged masterminds of the plot to bribe the judges and only said there were two suspects, one from the private sector and the other “working for one of the arms of government”.

“Following the arrest of Mpingangira (from private sector) now we need action on the second suspect,” Namiwa said.

ACB  continues to  conceal the identity of the other suspect  which Matemba  had hinted works in the public sector.

The first suspect was arrested on January 22 2020 following a formal complaint from Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda on November 28 2019 that two of the five judges hearing the case reported bribery attempts.

The five-judge panel comprising Healey Potani, Ivy Kamanga, Dingiswayo Madise, Redson Kapindu and Mike Tembo  rejected the bribes to rule in favour of first respondent President Peter Mutharika in the case which two of the presidential candidates in the May 21 2019 Tripartite Elections—UTM Party’s Saulos Chilima (the first petitioner) and Malawi Congress Party candidate Lazarus Chakwera (the second petitioner)— asked  the court to nullify presidential election results over alleged irregularities, especially in the results management system.

Mutharika of Democratic Progressive Party, who was declared winner of the elections, is the first respondent with Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) as the second respondent. They are both appealing in the Supreme Court of Malawi.