DPP mum on 33 Cashgate files

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Mary Kachale has refused to comment on accusations that her office is sitting on 33 Cashgate-related files meant for prosecution that were submitted by Anti- Corruption Bureau (ACB) in 2015.

When Kachale appeared before Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament recently, she is said to have faulted the bureau for not providing all information on some Cashgate cases, hence delays in prosecuting the cases.

However, when ACB Deputy Director General Reyneck Matemba appeared before the Legal Affairs Committee last year, he wondered as to why there was no action taken by the DPP’s office in prosecuting the cases despite the office being furnished with the files.

The documents were also given to Parliament in June and July 2015.

But in a response to a questionnaire, Kachale speaking through Spokesperson for Ministry of Justice Apoche Itimu could neither confirm nor deny the accusations and said: “We offer no comment in the public interest as we would not want to undermine the admirable oversight work that the Legal Affairs Committee (LAC) is currently doing in relation to the two institutions (DPP’s and ACB).”

But Matemba is said to have told the Legal Affairs Committee that Kachale is not amused with the decision by the bureau to recruit Private Prosecutor Kamudoni Nyasulu who was once removed from the DPP chambers.

This is also seen as one of the reasons for the sour relationship between the two offices but the DPP’s office told this paper that she believes that fight against crime can only be won if there is good working relationship between relevant agencies.

“The DPP’s office firmly believes that it is only through inter-agency coordination and cooperation among law enforcement agencies that Malawi can win in its fight against crime and truly leave criminals nowhere to hide. For this reason, the DPP office has always worked with teams of investigators from both the police and the ACB to date,” the response from the DPP reads.

Commentators have been expressing fears that a strained relationship between the two law enforcement agencies is a deterrent to the fight against graft in the country which seems to be taking root.