The Malawi Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has asked Justice Kenyatta Nyirenda to recuse himself from a corruption-related case involving ex-police chief George Kainja, an alleged accomplice of business tycoon Zuneth Sattar.
Kainja was arrested together with Deputy Commissioner of Police Mwabi Kaluba in June in relation to US$7,875,000 (about K8 billion) tender awarded to Sattar after pocketing kickbacks. Kainja is alleged to have received a vehicle and US$8,000 (about K8 million) from the Leicester based Sattar.
Following his arrest, Kainja applied for a judicial review to stop ACB from prosecuting him and others of corruption charges relating to Sattar. Justice Nyirenda is presiding over Kainja’s application for a judicial review.
Kainja argues that ACB can not prosecute him using evidence generated jointly with UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA).
In June this year, the Supreme Court ruled that the Anti-Corruption Bureau is at liberty to enter into cooperation, whether formal or informal, with any corresponding agencies in other jurisdictions as part of mutual assistance on criminal matters when former Lands and Housing Minister Kezzie Msukwa and Sattar’s associate, Ashok Nair, had filed for similar application.
Kainja added as parties to his application the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Steven Kayuni and the Attorney General (AG) Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda. Chakaka Nyirenda has described Kainja’s decision to add the AG to the case as absurd, vexatious and embarrassing.
The ACB which previously claimed in a comprehensive report submitted to Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera, Malawi Parliament Speaker Catherine Gotani Hara and Chief Justice of Malawi, Justice Rezine Mzikamanda, that some members of the judiciary are among those captured by business tycoon Sattar has applied for a motion to have Justice Nyirenda leave the case.
According to the motion, the ACB argues that Nyirenda is a “conflicted” person to handle the case with credibility. According to a report published by MIJ, ACB is also objecting inclusion of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) David Kayuni and Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda as parties, saying their inclusion adds no relevance to the case.
