High Court judge Kenyatta Nyirenda will continue hearing the corruption related case involving former Police chief George Kainja after the judge dismissed an application by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
The bureau wanted Nyirenda to recuse himself from the case, saying Nyirenda is a “conflicted” person. In his ruling earlier this month, Nyirenda effused to recuse himself and he gave eleven reasons backing his decision.
The bureau then applied for stay of the judgement to allow it to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
However, in a ruling today, Nyirenda has said he does not see any reason to stay his earlier judgement.
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 businesperson Zuneth Sattar. Kainja is alleged to have received a vehicle and US$8,000 (about K8 million) from the Leicester based Sattar.
In his application for judicial review of his case, Kainja argued that ACB cannot 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. The court made the ruling when former Lands and Housing Minister Kezzie Msukwa and Sattar’s associate, Ashok Nair, had filed for similar application.
Earlier this year, the ACB submitted a report to President Lazarus Chakwera in which it mentioned public officers who are alleged to have received bribes from Sattar who is accused of defrauding government through procurement contracts. The ACB report said some members of the judiciary are among those captured by business tycoon Sattar.
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