By Lifu Litete
An influential legal body, the Malawi Law Society (MLS) has added its voice to growing calls for vice president Saulos Klaus Chilima to be prosecuted after reports emerged that the Veep is one of the people that were directly dealing with corruption suspect Zunneth Sattar.
Last week State President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera in his national address said from the report which he has received from the country’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in relation to Sattar’s corruption scandal, Chilima is among those people named to have dealt with the busonessman.
The president then announced that he has stripped Chilima of all his delegated duties as state vice president until the courts clear him.
However since news broke that Chilima is among those named in the report, there have been calls for the vice president to resign to pave way for smooth investigations by the ACB.
The latest to add its voice is the LMS, a grouping of practising lawyers.
In an interview, MLS Honorary Secretary Chrispin Ngunde said under the country’s laws it’s only the president who is immune to prosecution.
“The vice president’s office is just a delegated office. The veep is not immune to prosecution. Depending on the available evidence the Veep can appear before the law,” said Ngunde.
Ngunde further said if the ACB feels it has a valid case against Chilima, the Bureau must be given an opportunity to interview the veep as per requirement of the law.
Last Friday UTM sympathisers camped at Chilima’s Area 43 residence chanting praise songs after it emerged that interrogators from the ACB were planning to interview the vice president in relation to the case.