Chilima’s corruption case thrown away

Justice Redison Kapindu formally discharged Chilima on Monday 6th May ,2024 following issuance of discontinuation certificate by Director of Public Prosecution’s Masauko Chamkakala.

Kapindu has lifted all bail conditions previously imposed on Chilima, effectively clearing him of all obligations related to the case.

This comes as the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Masauko Chamkakala suggested to discontinue the case yesterday on the grounds of national security.

Good governance expert, Vincent Chirwa supports the discontinuance of the case saying everything about the commencement of this case was wrong from the word go, that the case lacked merit and was therefore an abuse of power.

He observed that the problem with the Chilima case was that the evidence which the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) was relying was one which was ‘donated to it by the British investigators, evidence which the British investigators got illegally in the country following their ‘search raid’ and therefore.

Chirwa said: “ the ACB was not standing any hopeful chance for successful prosecution.”

He looked at four indicators which gave him the impression that the case was hopeless.

“The ACB should have known that the evidence which was shared to them from the fruits of the British investigators search was obtained illegally.

“While the position in our jurisdiction has always been that illegally obtained evidence may or may not be admitted as per Court’s discretion, the guideline for such discretion has always been clear and if the ACB had properly explored into that guideline it would have reached to an inescapable understanding that the likelihood of the Court not admitting such evidence was higher than less,” he said.

He said: yet, against all odds, the ACB, in what I viewed as mischievous bravado and pawn adventure in relation to whims and instructions emanating from the West, proceeded to arrest and charge the Vice President.

Thindwa suggests It was the kind of audacity that didn’t give any care to our national security. From political perspective, arresting and prosecuting a serving State Vice President hinges on national security. It is only an error on the part of our Constitution that it does not extend the immunity from arrest and prosecution to a sitting Vice President.