Minister of Information Gospel Kazako says the full report by Commission of Inquiry on the arrest of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) director general Martha Chizuma will be made public after President Lazarus Chakwera completes reading and studying it.
Yesterday, the Commission of Inquiry presented its findings and recommendations to Chakwera at Kamuzu Palace.
Chakwera then directed that the findings be released to the public but Malawians are not happy with the findings and recommendations saying they want a full report in order to appreciate how the commission made its conclusions.
In a joint statement today, several civil society organizations have argued that that by releasing a part of the report, government is hiding some information.
“We believe that the redacted 12 paged report is, to say the least, an affront to transparency and accountability that underpins the authority to govern as founded under Section 12 of the Constitution,” reads part of the statement.
The Malawi Law Society in its own statement said the part which has been released indicates that the commission deviated from its mandate of zeroing in on the arrest and started inquiring into the conduct of the arrested.
“The public must be allowed to evaluate how such possible variance in the scope of assignment or indeed if there is any variance at all,” the law society said.
Meanwhile, Kazako has promised that the full report will be made public after the president reads it.
Chakwera instituted the commission of inquiry following the arrest of Chizuma on December 6, 2022 over an audio clip which circulated on social media in January last year.
Chizuma’s arrest followed a complaint by Director of Public Prosecutions Steven Kayuni who said that Chizuma made allegations of corruption against him in the clip.
The commission has since recommended that Chakwera should take action against Chizuma over the audio clip, saying there is reasonable ground to believe that she committed crimes.
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