MALAWI COURT SKED TODISCHRGE EX PRESRNT MULUZI CASE

MALAWI COURT ASKED TO DISCHARGE EX-PRESIDENT MULUZI: PROSECUTORS WITHDRAW FROM CASE

Prosecutors in the ongoing ‘K1.7 billion’ ($2.5 million) corruption case involving former president Bakili Muluzi have withdrawn from the high profile case, prompting the state to ask Judge Maclean Kamwambi to discharge Muluzi. The surprise turn of events happened when the court met Thursday at the High Court in Blantyre. Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) deputy director Reyneck Matemba who is the lead prosecutor and his colleague State lawyer Chrispin Khunga who were prosecuting the case asked Judge Kamwambe to stand aside from the case just as the court session was to start. Since trial resumed on April 11 2016 over K100 million has been deducted from the K1.7 billion Muluzi and his co-accused, Lyness Violet Whiskey, are accused to have fraudulently acquired. Whiskey is a former personal assistant to Muluzi and was handling bank transactions like deposits of the former president when he was in power. Government initially claimed Muluzi’s corruption case stemmed from donor money in his account but former president has always denied wrong doing saying no foreign country would deposit donor money in a personal account. He claimed the case was trumped up for political reasons. Since the nine-year-old case resumed on April 11 2016, the defence expressed optimism that the figures will be deducted to zero from the K1.7 billion. After prosecutors asked to quit the case, apparently due to lack of objective material evidence, Judge Kamwambe went ahead and granted them the application, signalling that the state has abandoned the case. Judge Kamwambe pointed out that the state prosecution “ is in total disarray in this case.” “Before I make my own opinion on the matter let me ask the defence the application it wants to make,” he said. Tamando Chokotho private practise lawyer for the former president Muluzi applied to the same court to discharge Muluzi and his co-accused Whiskey. However, the judge said he would make the ruling another day. Chokotho said it was senseless to proceed with the case when the state had abandoned the case. The case has been dragging for 17 years now and the move by the state to pull out of the case will bring in mixed reactions on the government fight against graft.