Samuel Tembenu who is lawyer for former Malawi president Peter Mutharika has expressed dismay over “high levels of crookedness” at the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
Tembenu made the remarks on Tuesday after realizing that the ACB had been granted an extension of the period for freezing Mutharika’s accounts.
The bureau froze Mutharika’s accounts in August and the period expired on December 7. But the bureau obtained an extension at the magistrate’s court without notifying Mutharika’s lawyers, something which has annoyed Tembenu.
“They hid that fact. We only came to know about it today [on Tuesday] in court and even the [High Court] Judge [Rowland Mbvundula] was surprised.
“They [ACB] have been hiding about that, yet we have been talking to each other. So, that’s why I am saying there is a high level of crookedness on the part of State institution called the ACB,” he told the local media after the High Court in Blantyre completed hearing the case in which wants the ACB to unfreeze his bank accounts.
Tembenu added that Mutharika is surviving but is facing hardships as he has not been allowed to access his money.
ACB chief legal and prosecution officer Victor Chiwala has confirmed obtaining the new restriction notice which will expire on March 7, 2021.
He argued that the expiry of the restriction would have killed the ACB’s case and that the bureau would be able to recover money from the bank accounts if the suspects are found guilty.
The bureau also froze accounts Mutharika’s wife Gertrude, former State Residences chief of staff Peter Mukhitho, former Malawi Revenue Authority deputy commissioner general Roza Mbilizi and Mutharika’s former bodyguard Norman Chisale over the K5 billion cement scandal.
