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| National |
| Corrupt Practices Act nowhere near |
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by
Joseph Langa, 01 August 2003
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11:40:33
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The long-awaited Corrupt Practices Bill aimed at strengthening the powers of the Anti-Corruption Bureau may not be presented to Parliament this year as it has just passed the Committee Stage.
Leader of the House Thengo Maloya agreed on Thursday the bill has indeed delayed but said that is because of the normal procedures that all bills undergo.
He said the bill which is with the main cabinet will be presented after the cabinet has made its recommendations and passed them to the parliamentary draughtsman to draft a bill. He said the bill will then be referred to the Parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee which will also scrutinise it before handing it over to Parliament for debating after a 21-days' notice.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee on Legal Affairs has made several changes to the recommendations by the Law Commission despite a call from the British Government, the country’s leading bilateral donor, to incorporate all Malawi Law Commission's proposals to the proposed new Corrupt Practices bill.
The Commission’s report, which was presented in Parliament in May this year, among other things, recommends that the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) should no longer seek Director of Public Prosecutions' (DPP) consent to prosecute corruption cases.
British High Commissioner Norman Ling said at a workshop for newly-recruited ACB prosecutors and investigators in Lilongwe recently, “the British Government looks forward to incorporation of all the Commission’s recommendations into the new bill”.
But Chief Parliamentary Draughtsman Anthony Kamanga said in an interview on Thursday, the Cabinet Committee on Legal Affairs has made several changes to the Commission's proposals, which they have now passed to the main cabinet for a final decision.
But Kamanga refused to disclose details of the changes made by the cabinet committee saying the information couldn’t be released until the full cabinet makes its own recommendation, which will be an official government position that will be incorporated to the draft bill.
“I know they have made several changes to the [Law Commission’s] recommendations. But this is not the government position and I am not at liberty now to disclose what has been proposed until the full cabinet makes its own recommendation,” Kamanga said.
Cabinet Committee on Legal Affairs Chair Rodwell Munyenyembe confirmed his committee disposed of the report after making some changes and passed it over to the main cabinet to make a final decision.
Munyenyembe also declined to divulge any information on the proposed changes saying it is the matter for the cabinet to meet and make their recommendation.
But a source familiar with the operations of the Attorney General's office confided in Nation Online that the Cabinet Committee on Legal Affairs has, among other things, quashed the proposal to remove the powers of the DPP to give consent on all corruption cases administered by ACB.
“The DPP is under instruction to make sure that his powers over the ACB should remain intact because the executive is afraid that by removing the powers of the DPP to give consent, it [the executive] will have no power to dictate who is to be prosecuted,” he said.
Currently, the DPP is the stumbling block for the ACB because they (ACB) have no power to prosecute any corrupt case once the DPP who works under the executive withholds consent.
Ling who was keen to see all proposals by the Law Commission incorporated into the new bill declined to comment on the reported changes when contacted through one of the commission’s press officers, Chipiliro Kalebe.
The Law Commission says in its report they recommended removing the powers of the DPP because the ACB feels frustrated and its own mandate undermined by the DPP who has withheld consent on an unsatisfactory reasons.
“Thus the bureau views the requirements of the DPP’s consent as an impediment and a hindrance to the discharge of one of its principal functions under the (Corrupt Practices) act,” reads the report in part adding that:
“It was not feasible to require the DPP’s consent for every prosecution of an offence under the law hence the recommendation to remove his powers”.
Attorney General Peter Fatchi told Parliament when presenting the report in May, the review of the 1995 Corrupt Practices Act was proposed because of the shortcomings identified in the Act including the need to get consent from the DPP. He could not be reached for a comment.
MCP legal advisor and shadow Justice minister and attorney general, Louis Chimango said in an interview the requirement to get consent from the DPP is increasing cases of corruption in the country because the ACB is facing serious problems.
“Corruption cases are increasing by day despite the institutions. We know the ACB is facing serious problems the major ones being the need to get the DPP’s consent and lack of political will.
“We would like to see a demonstration of stronger political will and commitment to fight corruption and not just bill boards on the roads. It's unfortunate that the bill seems not to be coming this meeting when we were told it would come this budget meeting.
Chimango said MCP will closely watch what will remain of the commission’s recommendations on the proposed bill when Fatchi told Parliament that government will not just rubber stamp the commission’s recommendations.
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