By Staff Writer:
Chief Resident Magistrate Madalitso Chimwaza has granted bail to former Solicitor General and Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Reyneck Matemba.
Matemba, who represented himself in court, was charged with one count of corrupt use of official powers contrary to Section 25 (1) of the Corrupt Practices Act.
On Friday, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested Matemba and , former Board Chairperson for the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets (PPDA) Authority, John Suzi-Banda for receiving advantage from Zuneth Sattar, Managing Director of Xaviar Limited.
According to ACB Principal Public Relations Afficer Egrita Ndala, the arrest is in relation to the vetting of the said contract of procurement, contract reference number MPS/SB/16/04/2021, to supply 350,000 food ration packs worth USD7, 875,000.00.
“The investigations conducted by the Bureau established that Mr. Reyneck Matemba corruptly received USD10,000 as an advantage for the vetting process of the food rations contract. Mr. John Suzi-Banda received MK3,000,000.00 from Mr. Zuneth Sattar’s agent Zun Cheena to influence Mr. John Suzi-Banda to grant a no objection for the Malawi Police Service to award the contract to Xaviar Limited.
She said Suzi-Banda is likely to be charged with one count of obtaining an advantage contrary to Section 24(1) of the Corrupt Practices Act and one count of failure to declare interest contrary to Section 25D (2) (a) of the Corrupt Practices Act