Jan. 18 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera fired chief prosecutor Steven William Kayuni on Wednesday over the controversial December arrest of the head of the Malawi Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Martha Chizuma.
According to information collected by the newspaper ‘Nyasa Times’, the president has criticized the management of the case and has said that “it is serious that the chief prosecutor had a moment about an erroneous trial or a conflict of interest.”
“I consider this a great failure for Kayuni and a great disappointment for me. For this reason, I have summoned Kayuni to convey my discomfort and listen to his response, in the interest of justice,” he said, before confirming his dismissal.
Thus, he has defended that “Chizuma has the constitutional right to file a lawsuit against the person who recorded his statements against his will” and added that “he will prevent a person from trying to use his position in a public institution to attack another with the aim of settle personal accounts”.
Chakwera, who has appointed Masauko Chamkakala as the new chief prosecutor, has once again defended Chizuma and has reaffirmed the decision he made in 2022 not to dismiss the head of the ACB. “I maintain my choice that he lead the efforts against corruption”, he has riveted.
Chizuma was indicted in December for “making a speech capable of prejudging a person before judicial proceedings”, in specific reference to Kayuni. In the audio leaked in April, the head of the ACB called Kayuni “corrupt” and “committed” to alleged cases of corruption, which led to his arrest.
Chakwera prevailed in the 2020 elections, which were held after the 2019 presidential elections – in which former president Peter Mutharika was re-elected – were annulled by the courts due to irregularities during the process.
After that, the new president promised in his inaugural speech at the end of June 2020 to fight corruption in the country and asked the judicial apparatus “to do more to end the culture of corruption and selective justice”, although members of his own Executive They have been embroiled in corruption scandals.
