Chakwera won't act on Sattar "accomplices" because "the Constitution binds me"

Malawi: President Lazarus Chakwera says he will not act against top-level officials accused of corruption in the case of businessman Zunith Sattar because "the Constitution binds me to base all my decisions on the law as applied by the law enforcement agencies in Malawi and adjudicated by the courts in Malawi."

The president made the remarks on Tuesday 31 May 2022 at the statehouse in Lilongwe during a night-time press briefing on domestic issues upon his return from Davos, Switzerland and Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.

The country’s Vice President, the Solicitor General, the Inspector General of the Malawi Police Service, the Chairperson of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA), and a Malawi Police Service lawyer are among those implicated in the Sattar corruption case.

The Malawi leader said these were serious allegations, and understood the people’s anxiety and suspicion, as well as the anguish and anger they all feel as a result of hearing them.

“I feel the same distress you do from hearing allegations of corruption in the highest offices in the land, and I am just as frustrated as you are to hear that the British suspect recently visited Malawi and none of the agencies actively investigating him here noticed, thus missing a golden opportunity to make progress on the matter,” he said.

But then the president said he took an oath of office promising to make decisions "according to law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will," including in matters of justice.

He said that means that, regardless of his feelings or frustrations, his decisions as President must be upheld certain principles of justice.

“One of those principles is that every citizen has a constitutional right to defend themselves against an accuser, and at this point, none of these individuals has been charged by any court where they can answer for themselves,” said the president, going to cite other two more “principles”.

“It is because I am required by law to uphold these principles that I have always waited for our own respected investigators or courts to bring charges against someone before taking executive action concerning their position.”

Meanwhile, Vice President Saulos Chilima has refused to comment on the allegations.

Interestingly, last year, Chakwera fired his labour minister, Ken Kandodo, for fraudulent use of funds meant to fight the coronavirus.

Kandodo used less than $800 from the COVID fund for allowances during an October trip to South Africa with Chakwera, according to a government audit.

Again, in his reconfigured cabinet in January 2022, the president excluded then Lands Minister Kezzie Msukwa, “to allow him to focus on efforts to clear his name after facing accusations of graft”.

Sattar is being investigated by the UK's National Crime Agency for alleged corruption in connection with three public contracts with the Malawi government, but he vigorously denies any wrongdoing, according to his lawyer, Simon Farrell QC.

Contracts cover armed personnel carriers, food rations, and water cannons.

Sattar was arrested in the United Kingdom in October 2021 in connection with these allegations, but he has not been charged.

Get the full speech of the president below: