High Court rebuffs Chilima: Says it’s premature to seek disclosures as they are sensitive

The High Court in Lilongwe has today ruled that it is premature for the defence in Vice President Saulos Chilima’s corruption case to seek some of the disclosures from the State at this stage of the case and has also agreed with the Malawi Defence Force ( MDF) that some of the documents are indeed highly sensitive in nature to be made public.

Judge Reason Kapindu has however, stressed that if during the trial such sensitive documents will prove to be relevant to a fair trial for the accused, then the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) will have to decide whether to have such sensitive information disclosed or discontinue the case

Meanwhile, the court has directed that the defendant and his legal team as well as the Attorney General (AG ) and lead counsel for  ACB will be allowed access to “only see basis” of the sensitive documents just to appreciate the courts observations that the information is highly sensitive.

The sought disclosures include minutes of the Defence Council Meeting held on October 16 2020 authorising the procurement of armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and a memorandum of March 2021 from the MDF to President Lazarus Chakwera seeking authorisation to procure APCs from Malachite FZE, a company linked to Sattar, using single sourcing

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