Africa-Press – Malawi. The outstanding performance of the erstwhile ombudsman, Ms. Martha Chizuma gave Malawians hope that she has the right arsenals to crack down the rampant corruption in Malawi.
It is now almost two years since Ms. Martha Chizuma assumed the mantle of directorship of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). However, there is no tangible corruption case, if any, which has been successfully concluded so far. Where is the problem? Does she need any assistance to discharge her duties efficiently? Are her working conditions conducive to fair investigations?
Of course, Malawians are aware that, in a certain leaked private phone conversation, she once complained about our corrupt justice system. We are also aware that the Director of Public Prosecutions, Dr. Steven Kayuni, did not give consent to prosecute some corruption cases including that of Batawala.
The Attorney General (AG) once boasted of being a boss to the Director of ACB. He even attempted to impose an illegal three months amnesty to corruption suspects to surrender whatever they had stolen. Oh Gosh!!
The hostile working environment for Ms. Martha Chizuma is compounded by President Chakwera’s threats to fire her over the leaked private phone conversation in which she accused him of interfering with the operations of the ACB.
During the recent State of Nation Address, President Chakwera lambasted Ms. Martha Chizuma over what he dubbed a substandard report. With this hostile working environment, are Malawians surprised at the slow pace corruption cases are being investigated or prosecuted?
Are we perplexed that Ms. Martha Chizuma submitted a substandard report to the president upon which he took a swift action to suspend some notable public officers? We applauded the State President for showing zero tolerance to corruption by suspending the delegated duties to the vice president Chilima.
However, Malawians are worried why Ms. Martha Chizuma chose to be compromised this time around by not arresting the 13 suspects whose cases had been extensively investigated by the time the report was submitted to the president?
We know that only one of the four of the public officers penalised by President Chakwera, former Inspector General, George Kainja, was arrested and charged.
Why has it taken so long to interrogate, arrest and charge Dr. Saulos Chilima and other corruption suspects whose cases have been extensively investigated? Why did Ms. Martha Chizuma mention names of individuals if she did not have ample evidence of any wrongdoing?
Martha Chizuma is becoming compromised because in her recent report, she did not mention names of cabinet ministers who are involved in the corruption scandal. We suspect that truth was suppressed here. It is practically impossible to have such number of corrupt incidences without the involvement of cabinet ministers who have accumulated unexplained wealth over a short period of time. Malawians are witnesses.
According to corrupt practices act, the Director of ACB is empowered to interrogate any person who is suspected of accumulated unexplained massive wealth. She can’t do this with cabinet ministers and other public officers because she is compromised.
We therefore demand Ms. Martha Chizuma to discharge her duties efficiently without fear or favour. We therefore recommend: 1) That Martha Chizuma should disclose all the hassles that impede her progress of stamping out corruption.
2) That parliament has a constitutional duty to provide checks and balances on the other arms of government and as such it must weigh in to address the problems that stand in the way of ACB. This includes stay orders perpetrated by the Judiciary restraining ACB from interrogating and investigating corruption suspects such as Kezzie Msukwa.
3) That ACB must interrogate and arrest the 13 corruption suspects including Dr. Saulos Chilima, whose cases, we were told, have been extensively investigated. It is pathetic to know that such crime suspects are freely interfering with the course of justice.
4) That Martha Chizuma should utilise her powers enshrined in Corrupt Practices Act to interrogate, arrest and charge individuals and public officers who have accumulated unexplained massive wealth within a short period of time.
5) That the Executive arm of government and the National Assembly must facilitate the enacting of laws that will make ACB fully independent.
6) That Martha Chizuma should endevour to expeditiously conclude corruption cases, for justice delayed is justice denied.
For More News And Analysis About Malawi Follow Africa-Press
