In a twist of events, High Court Judge Simeon Mdeza has denied lodging a complaint against Malawi Anti-Corruption Bureau Director General Martha Chizuma who is expected to appear before court tomorrow to be charged for alleging that Mdeza received a bribe.
Court documents which are making rounds indicate that Chizuma is expected to appear before court on Friday following a fresh complaint from High Court Judge Simeon Mdeza.
The documents say Chizuma’s appearance in court will be for plea taking on charge of making use of speech calculated to lower authority of a person before whom a judicial proceeding is being had, contrary to section 113(d) of the Penal Code.
The charge is based on Chizuma’s statement alleging that Justice Mdeza received a bribe when he presided over a case involving Ashok Kumar Sreedharan, an alleged accomplice of businessperson Zuneth Sattar last year.
However, Malawi24 understands that Justice Mdeza never lodged any complaint to police or any Authority over the clip.
According to Platform for Investigative Journalism, Justice Mdeza is surprised with his inclusion to the charge sheet and says he has communicated his position to both the Malawi Law Society and Chief Justice.
The publication has reported that Justice Mdeza was interviewed by police officers while investigating a previous complaint, understood to be the one lodged by former Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Steven Kayuni but expressed to police he had no desire to press any charges or take any legal action on the clip.
Chizuma was arrested in December last year on allegations that in her leaked audio she described Kayuni as corrupt and compromised.
Last week, President Lazarus Chakwera said anyone injured by Chizuma’s leaked audio is free to take legal action against the ACB boss.
However, the attempts by police prosecutors to charge Chizuma in the absence of a complaint from Mdeza has convinced Malawians that that senior officials in the Chakwera administration are using various tactics to have Chizuma removed.
“Now this makes sense. I now understand there’s is a hidden agenda in this whole thing. Some people in this government are orchestrating this for obvious reasons. I am sad and disappointed,” said one person commenting on a Platform for Investigative Journalism Facebook post.
Another commenter said: “Another indicator that this country is messed up to the core. Someone is pulling the strings behind the scenes.”
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