Africa-Press – Malawi. The government has submitted the name of newly appointed Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Masauko Chamkakala to the Public Appointments Committee of Parliament (Pac) for confirmation.
Pac Chairperson Joyce Chitsulo confirmed the development Monday evening. “I have officially received the appointment letter. Confirmation hearing is set for Monday next week,” she said.
Malawi has been without a practising DPP for close to two months. Former DPP Steven Kayuni was suspended on December 6 last year, then removed from the position on January 18 this year. Monday, Malawi Law Society President Patrick Mpaka said there was a need to fill the position.
He said since the new appointee is not confirmed, certain DPP functions which are exclusive to the office, as listed in Section 99 of the Constitution, “stand in abeyance since December”.
“Until the new DPP is confirmed by Pac, the constitutional gap remains and should not be taken lightly if fighting serious crime and maintaining constitutionalism is the priority of government,” he said. On Wednesday last week, President Lazarus Chakwera removed the then-suspended Kayuni from the position, replacing him with Chamkakala.
Chakwera removed Kayuni from the position of DPP for what he described as “unsound judgement” by the former DPP for his involvement in the arrest of Anti-Corruption Bureau Director General Martha Chizuma.
Kayuni launched a complaint to the police that he felt injured by what the ACB boss alleged in a leaked audio clip that had to do with frustrations in investigations of alleged corrupt dealings by a United Kingdom-based businessperson.
The complaint led to the arrest of Chizuma in the wee hours of December 6 2022, but she was released on the same day after a public backlash. Section 100(1) gives the President power to appoint the DPP but his prerogative is subject to confirmation of the appointed individual by Pac. Mathews Kasanda is a journalist who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from University of Malawi (The Polytechnic).
In 2015, Media Institute of Southern Africa awarded him the Best Print Media Education Journalist of the Year accolade.
He joined Times Group Newsroom in September 2019.
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