Nampota not taking up Attorney General post
Former Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) executive director Alex Nampota is not taking up his appointment as Attorney General, Nyasa Times understands.
Nampota was appointed by President Peter Mutharika to be Attorney General this week replacing Anthony Kamanga whose contract expired.
The AG’s office automatically fell vacant after Kamanga’s term technically came to an end following the defeat of former president Joyce Banda in the May 20 Tripartite Elections.
According to Section 98(4) of the republican constitution, “the office of Attorney General shall, where it is held by a person employed in the public service, become vacant after the person holding that office has served for five years, or in his or her resignation or retirement or up to the end of the president’s term of office, whichever is sooner.”
But despite Office of President and Cabinet (OPC) announcing in a statement that Mutharika has appointed Nampota for the post, he is not taking the post.
OPC sources said Nampota has expressed “reservations” to assume the job.
He is likely to be heading back to ACB. But sources say he already received compensation package in millions for terminating his contract.
Nampota was fired as ACB boss in 2012 by president Banda when she had just ascended to power following death of her predecessor Bingu wa Mutharika.
He was later on arrested on charges of abuse of office when it was alleged he claimed about K1 million (about $3 333) in allowances for a foreign study trip he allegedly never undertook.
It, however, transpired later that he undertook the trip, but only that it was earlier postponed due to the ban of foreign trips by the late Mutharika administration to save foreign exchange.
It is on record that Nampota, after the trip was postponed, refunded the money, but the ACB finance department advised him to keep the money because the trip was not cancelled, but postponed; hence, he was going to go anyway.
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