…ACB says Judiciary is rotten
Bribery suspect Thomson Mpinganjira was released at around midnight after a magistrate in Zomba issued an order cancelling a warrant of arrest earlier obtained by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
The order has no name of the Zomba Magistrate but it bears a signature and tells ACB and Blantyre Police to release Mpinganjira.
Anti-Corruption Bureau Director Reyneck Matemba said he was informed by the police and Mpinganjira’s lawyer Chipiliro Mpinganjira about the court order.
He wondered Mpinganjira’s lawyers travelled at night all the way to Zomba to obtain the order for cancellation of warrant of arrest.
“This is disgusting. Abuse of court process. It exposes how rotten the judiciary is,” Matemba said.
Meanwhile, Mpinganjira who is also Chief Executive Officer of FDH Bank will appear before court today to be formally charged.
The bureau arrested Mpinganjira in connection to allegations of attempts to bribe five Constitutional Court judges presiding over the Presidential Elections Case.
His arrest came after Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda complained to the bureau that some people were attempting to bribe the judges.
In the elections case, Malawi Congress Party president Lazarus Chakwera and UTM leader Saulos Chilima are challenging the outcome of the May 21 presidential elections in which Malawi Electoral Commission declared President Peter Mutharika as the winner.
The Constitutional Court will deliver its ruling in the elections case between 27 January and 3 February, 2020.
