The High Court has allowed officials from the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to testify in the corruption case against former Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) director general Reyneck Matemba.
Judge Violet Chipao has made the ruling following an application by Matemba who argued that the ACB, which is prosecuting him, did not follow formal procedures to have witnesses and evidence from NCA presented in court.
According to Matemba, ACB was required to go through the office of the Attorney General who was supposed to make a request from the Home Affairs office in the UK asking for evidence and witnesses from NCA.
However, Judge Violet Chipao has said that the bureau is free to use informal means to ask witnesses to testify.
Meanwhile, two witnesses from the NCA have testified in the case this afternoon.
The bureau accuses Matemba of failing to declare his interest in a board meeting which reviewed and granted a no objection for the Malawi Police Service’s contract with Xaviar Limited despite Matemba having knowledge that the director of Xaviar Limited was Zuneth Sattar who was his close associate and had a direct interest in the said contract.
The contract was worth $7,875,000 (about K8 billion) and was for the delivery of 350,000 ration packs.
Matemba was in the meeting in 2021 that vetted the contract as an ex- officio board member of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA) by virtue of his role as Solicitor General and Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
