Mpinganjira’s application for stay ‘irregular’, says Malawi Supreme Court
Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal sitting in Blantyre has ordered lawyers for business tycoon Thom Mpinganjira to regularize their application for stay of the proceedings on charges the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) leveled against him in a case in which he is being accused of attempting to bribe Constitutional Court judges.
Mpinganjira wants to stay all proceedings as they await a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling on their appeal against High Court judge Jack N’riva’s dismissal of their application for a judicial review on the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP)’s decision to commit the case to the High Court.
But Justice of Appeal Edward Twea on Wednesday noted that there were “several irregularities” and ordered the lawyers to regularise their application with documents that should be submitted including N’riva’s order granting the defence permission to appeal.
Twea adjourned the case to September 14 for hearing of the application.
Mpinganjira’s lawyer Patrice Nkhono said they were dealing with preliminary issues before the substantive hearing of the application for stay of proceedings.
He argues that the top prosecutor did not give reasons for committing the case to the High Court, hence his client would have lost one right of appeal.
But ACB director general Reyneck Matemba said it was unfortunate that the defence was raising that argument now when the court has not convicted the accused person.
Mpinganjira pleaded not guilty to all counts when he appeared before High Court judge Dorothy DeGabrielle for plea in Blantyre last month.
In January this year, ACB arrested Mpinganjira after Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda complained to the bureau that a business person and a public servant wanted to bribe the five judges who presided over the 2019 presidential election case.
Mpinganjira is answering charges related to attempting to induce High Court judges Mike Tembo and Healey Potani to exercise their functions corruptly by offering them K100 million.
He is also being accused of attempting to induce a public officer to abuse his office by attempting to persuade Tembo and Potani to accept the bribe and rule the election case in favour of former president Peter Mutharika and the Malawi Electoral Commission who were the respondents in the case.
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kodi nawonso chuma chosechi amafunaso chani?
kulodzedwa eti?
kapena Mulungu anakonza kuti agwidwe pofuna kubwezera zomwe zidaphimbika ku fdh deal?
munya simunati.
chuma amadyera ku ndende?
Obviously K100m was too little compared to the billion that the judges awarded themselves through petetioners lawyers. MEC paid their lawyers MK400 million for the same case and same period. I just want to be convinced why the lawyers opted for open representation without giving their client a bill like what the South African lawyers had done. This is probably the biggest judicial heist in the history of Malawi. Justice Nyirenda was maintained at the judiciary so that he should dismiss all applications about the payment while Mvalo and Silungwe were strategically placed in their position to make sure the… Read more »
WaBakili Muluzi udzalowa liti?
I just hope this case doesn’t go the same Bakili Muluzi way. Malawians of 10 years ago may have tolerated the way the Judiciary handled the Muluzi case at the beginning, culminating into the quagmire that it is today. But I don’t see today’s Malawian being happy with a Judiciary that will not be able to conclusively deal with this matter, and the several other corruption and fraud cases that have been commenced. Let the accused persons exonerate themselves and be declared innocent after due process of the law, and not be allowed to beat the system through trickery and… Read more »
Mpingagira should not even be out of prison on bail. This man is busy interfering with justice by bribing witnesses and others. Next you will hear that the files containing evidence have been stolen or burnt in a fire. This man Mpingagira offered bribes to our Judges, surly the Court should place the highest importance to what the Judge who was offered the bribes said. Lock this criminal up. No need to debate.
Tom has money and all Judges involved in the matter will be corrupted just wait and see. Only the poor will be arrested and never be heard.
This case will keep on dragging, it’s a corruption case by the way.
For Tom to have a fair trial, he needs to bribe more judges. And there’s no shortage.