Court summons Ant Corruption Bureau’s director
Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate Court has adjourned the summoning of Director of Anti-Corruption Bureau Martha Chizuma over the leaked audio to Friday the 27th of January.
Chizuma was expected to appear before Lilongwe court Thursday afternoon.
According to court documents, Chizuma will be in court for plea taking on the charge of making use of speech calculated to lower authority of a person before whom a judicial proceeding is being heard.
Chizuma in January last year had a phone conversation with a certain person in which they discussed matters regarding her office which was leaked.
In the audio she stated that Justice Simeon Mdeza was bribed when he presided over a case involving Ashok Kumar an alleged accomplice of businessperson Zuneth Sattar.
The second count Chizuma is facing is of making use of speech capable of prejudicing a person against a party to judicial proceedings.
On December 6, the ACB director was arrested following a complaint by former Director of Public Prosecutions Dr Steven Kayuni.
Public reaction over the arrest forced President Lazarus Chakwera to institute a commission of inquiry which faulted Kayuni hence his firing.
The inquiry also found reasonable grounds that Chizuma committed offences and demonstrated lack of judgment in her leaked audio but Chakwera maintained her.
Meanwhile, Think Tank says the fresh law suit against Chizuma is unfortunate considering that president Chakwera declared his forgiveness on her and ordered closure of the leaked audio.
Think Tank executive director Ken Nsonda however said the new law suit is as a result of a misplaced statement that the commission of inquiry made and repeated by the president which encouraged those that were injured with the audio to go to court.
Nsonda also wonders why the victims of the leaked audio are only after Chizuma and nothing is being done against the person who recorded the audio.
