The decision by President Lazarus Chakwera to release only 22 pages of the Commission of Inquiry report continues to backfire with the Law Society of Malawi demanding a full report.
The Society says both the President and the Commission are accountable to Malawians and sections 10 and 12 of the Constitution and sections 2 and 7 of the Commission of Inquiry Act.
The Society says only with a full report would Malawians appreciate how the Terms of Reference were altered from investigating into the circumstances sorrounding the arrest of ACB Director Martha Chizuma.
“The authority given to the Commission by the President in a public appointment document specifically required the Commission to zero in on the arrest and not to inquire into the conduct of the arrested,” says the statement signed by Patrick Mpaka, Chairperson and Honorary Secretary Chrispin Ngunde.
They add, “The public must be allowed to evaluate how such possible variance in the scope of assignment might have risen or indeed if there is any variance at all.”
The lawyers body reminds Chakwera that the public is entitled to access information held by the State by virtue of section 37 of the Constitution and Access to Information Act.
The body asks President Chakwera and Justice of Appeal Edward Twea (Rtd) and the 11 Commissioners to enhance their own public “trust, transparency and accountability” by releasing the full report.
President Chakwera is well known for playing hide and seek with public information and this latest scandal has left his credibility in tatters as he continues to openly shield those suspected of being corrupt in his administration
