Malawians from far and wide have spoken in unison agreeing with President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera’s decision to reinstate his chief of staff Prince Kapondamgaga after he was cleared by the Anti Corruption Bureau.
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For the past thirteen months the graft-busting body has been carrying out an exhaustive investigation to establish if Kapondamgaga was criminally involved in his dealings with UK-based businessman Zuneith Sattar.
The investigation was concluded few weeks ago in which the ACB cleared Kapondamgaga and found him with no case to answer. It is on this decision that President Chakwera has since reinstated his Chief of Staff.
In the wake of this, Malawians have been weighing in on the rationale behind both decisions. A majority of those that have spoken through various channels and a snap-survey carried out by this publication, it is evident that the public have warmed up to President Chakwera’s decision labelling it as just and fair.
The common denominator in all this is that the President’s decision has been informed by natural justice and the rule of law as per his governance philosophy.
Since he entered the political fray back in 2013, President Chakwera made it clear that he will use Rule of Law as a guiding principle to ensure that the country’s administrative and legal systems function in line with Constitutionalism.
It therefore did not come as a major surprise when last year in May he suspended Kapondamgaga to allow the ACB carry out a full investigation on the Zuneth Sattar matter.
Similarly, the ACB’s decision to let the Chief of Staff off the hook and the President’s decision to bring him back to office speak loudly into adherence towards Constitutional matters.
An influential quasi-religious grouping, Public Affairs Committee, has agreed with the decision, labelling it an act of fairness and natural justice.
“Any person in this country is innocent until proven otherwise by the court. So, in this case, we will be very hesitant as Public Affairs Committee to condemn or not to condemn the President because he is following the rule of law in that particular regard,” PAC spokesperson Bishop Gilford Matonga told a local daily on Wednesday.
Renowned legal expert Lord Denning, writing under his famous moniker Queen’s Bench, also opined in agreement saying what has happened since last year is proof that President Chakwera respects the law to the letter.
“It is in that logical sense, therefore, that the Public Affairs Committee has commended President Chakwera for his decision to reinstate the Chief of Staff saying morphing his provisional suspension into permanent dismissal would be unfair and brutal to the concerned official. The Queens Bench wholly agree,” wrote Lord Denning on his personal blog.
He added: “By strongly recommending to the OPC to review the Public Service Regulations in respect of the Presidential Directive that provisionally suspended the Chief of Staff, the ACB was directly communicating that if the OPC suspended any public official solely based on the investigations that the ACB was undertaking against such public officials, those investigations are closed with no charges sustained.”
In the streets of the country’s cities, town and trading centres the discourse has also leaned towards Chakwera’s adherence to Constitutionalism.
“It was wise for the President to allow ACB finish its investigation before he could act. This shows that he has trust in government agencies and does not interfere in their mandate. Kapondamgaga has seen the sunshine of justice,” Fabiano Mafuno, a fishmonger at Mzuzu’s Zigwagwa market was one who spoke in favour of the decision.
The country’s ruling bloc, Malawi Congress Party, has also expressed joy for what President Chakwera has done.
