Former DPP Steven Kayuni refused to allow Msisha to prosecute the cases before he was removed from the position last month.
Chakaka-Nyirenda has written a letter to the new DPP expressing his expectations and asking the office of the DPP to rescind its decision to withhold consent on the matter.
“After careful consideration of your decision, I am of the view that you should revisit your decision rejecting the appointment of Mr. Modecai Msisha, SC as a public prosecutor in the specific cases that the Anti-Corruption Bureau [ACB] provided or is about to provide.
“As a condition of the appointment, and as is the case with any other lawyer appointed, as a public prosecutor you should require Mr. Modecai Msisha to submit to your office and the ACB progress reports regarding the matter(s) where consent has been granted for him to prosecute,” reads the letter.
Chamkakala has not commented on the issue, but the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) director general, Martha Chizuma, has stated that they will commit the Chilima case to the High Court following the earlier rejection of Msisha.
The ACB engaged Msisha to prosecute the case in which Chilima is alleged to have received $280,000 and other items from United Kingdom-based businessperson Zuneth Sattar as a reward for government contracts to companies belonging to him.
Chilima, who was arrested on November 25, 2022, and granted court bail the same day, is facing six counts, including three for corrupt practices by a public officer, two for receiving advantage for using influence in regard to contracts, and one count of failing to make a full report to a police officer or an officer of the ACB that an advantage had been corruptly given to him.
The Malawi Law Society’s honorary secretary, Chrispin Ngunde, has explained that the law allows the ACB director general to appoint any legal practitioner in civil matters, while the Corrupt Practices Act is silent on legal representation in criminal matters.
However, the ACB has on previous occasions been assisted in criminal matters by private legal practitioners appointed by the DPP in the exercise of his powers of a delegation under Section 100(1) (b) of the Constitution and power to appoint public prosecutors under Section 79 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code.
