ACB Director General Reyneck Matemba told us the delay has come due to their intention to consolidate the case with that involving Mr. Misheck Essau of CDH Ban who was later found with no case to answer.

Said Matemba, “Before the case commences we need to disclose the nature of evidence that we have to the defence, that is what we are doing now.”

Human Rights Defenders Coalition Chairperson Timothy Mtambo has called on ACB to move with speed saying justice delayed is justice denied.

“Corruption cases in this country delay unnecessarily. We appreciate whatever technical issues ACB is doing, but what we are saying they should speed up,” Mtambo said.

But legal expert Edge Kanyongolo feels there is no harm as the delay is justified.

“Every delay in the case should be assessed relative to the fact of the case. What makes the delay unacceptable is where it is not justified,” Kanyongolo said.  

The alleged corruption in the supply of food rations to Malawi Police Service by Pioneer Investment owned by Zameer Karim came to light through a leaked ACB investigation report in June 2017.

The report implicated senior police officers, Innocent Botoman and Glad Kachingwe as having a hand in the deal.

The matter was found compounded with discovert that Mr. Karim deposited part of the money into a bank account held by President Peter Mutharika. It was later returned, but questions still linger.