President Lazarus Chakwera’s Chief of Staff Prince Kapondamgaga is back on his job after a year long suspension.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) decided not to continue with corruption investigations after Kapondamgaga after he surrendered a Mercedes Benz he received businessperson Zunneth Sattar.
This contributed to a lot of wild speculations that the Chief of Staff may have been a victim of political machinations within and outside the corridors of power.
Meanwhile, several legal experts have been weighing in on Kapondamgaga’s matter from legal perspective.
Most of the legal experts are of the view that fact that Kapondamgaga voluntarily returned a vehicle he is alleged to have received from Sattar as a gift, does not make him an accomplice of crime unless proven otherwise.
“Mr. Kapondamgaga was well advised when he volunteered to return the vehicle he received as gift from Mr. Sattar back to ACB. For heavens sake, we all receive gifts in one way or the other, as such we don’t know where money for buying such gifts could have come from. If the courts were to be arresting people for receiving gifts allegedly from proceeds of crime then the entire nation would be jailed,” said a Lilongwe based lawyer who pleaded for anonymity.
Also speaking on condition of strict anonymity, another legal practitioner based in Blantyre said: “When ACB summons a suspect, it doesn’t mean that person is guilty. Three things happen after appearing before ACB. Either you get arrested or you are let go while investigations continue or you are cleared out right as what has happened with Mr. Kapondamgaga. In my view, the President has done nothing wrong as far as laws of Malawi are concerned. The President’s Chief of Staff is a free man.”
Meanwhile, news about Kapondamgaga’s return to State House has excited most MCP die Hards who have described the Chief of Staff as “truest and honest character fit to be close to the President serves interests of Chakwera and the party with dedication, commitment and loyalty.”
