Court appearance via video link denies millions of Malawians a glimpse of the face of the man behind Malawi’s alleged state capture. But activists welcome official charges as a historic step forward in the fight against grand corruption. Zuneth Sattar, a 44-year-old Malawi-born businessperson, appeared in court via video link. (FILE PICTURE) JULIUS MBEŴE and JACK McBRAMS Malawian-born British businessperson Zuneth Sattar appeared in a London criminal court on Friday on charges of corruptly paying the former Vice President of Malawi, the late Saulos Chilima, and several other high-ranking officials. Sattar, 44, appeared via video link at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, where he faced 18 counts of bribing foreign public officials between December 2020 and September 2021, denying millions waiting for media reports at home and beyond, a glimpse of the businessperson whose public persona remains an enigma. And there was no drama or big news as Sattar did not enter a plea during the preliminary hearing. District Judge Tan Ikram granted him conditional bail ahead of a further hearing set for June 26 at Southwark Crown Court. Edward Brown KC of QEB Hollis Whiteman, representing the Crown Prosecution Service, said the charges involve bribes allegedly paid by Sattar or his agents in exchange for government contracts in Malawi. Prosecutors have officially charged Sattar with two offences under the U.K. Bribery Act 2010 related to his company, Xavier Ltd. The court session, R v. Sattar, case number 00NS5051220, in Westminster Magistrates’ Court, began at exactly 14:00. It marked the first time Sattar had faced a criminal court to answer these specific allegations. The charges, too, had already been revealed, including details of the prosecution’s case focusing on how Sattar paid bribes to various government officials to win contracts. Among those named are former Vice President, the late Saulos Chilima; President Lazarus Chakwera’s chief of staff, Prince Kapondamgaga; former Malawi Police Inspector General George Kainja; former Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Director General and Solicitor General Reyneck Matemba; and Brigadier Dan Kuwali, a law professor and commandant at the Malawi Defence Force College. Former Malawi’s Vice President, the late Saulos Chilima The alleged contracts included a $28 million [approx K50 billion] deal for anti-riot equipment, a $7.8 million [approx K14 billion] food rations package, and about $20 million [approx K36 billion] for 32 armored personnel carriers, Brown said. Simon Farrell KC of Three Raymond Buildings, counsel for Sattar, said his client was first arrested in October 2021 during a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation and again in March 2022. Back home, the majority turned to social media for updates, but those came hard by with international media outlets not covering the trial, and the majority of local media houses unable to fly in reporters for what activists believe is a landmark trial for Malawi. The National Anti-Corruption Alliance (NACA), a grouping of Malawian civil society organisations in the good governance space, welcomed the formal charges “with profound relief and unwavering resolve,” officials said in a statement. “For too long, Mr Sattar has symbolized the grotesque collusion between wealth, political power, and impunity,” said a statement signed by NACA Chairperson Michael Kaiyatsa. “He allegedly exploited access to senior public officials to siphon hundreds of millions of dollars from a struggling nation– money that should have built hospitals, stocked essential drugs, paid teachers and nurses, and strengthened our justice system. Instead, it lined up the pockets of the corrupt elite and entrenched a culture of greed and impunity.” Alive in the UK, dead in Malawi The charges stem from a wide-ranging investigation by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), which has worked closely with Malawi’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). Sattar has consistently denied any wrongdoing. While the UK investigation painstakingly developed for years with little drama and publicity, the Malawi version faced stumbling blocks along the way. Initially supported by the Lazarus Chakwera administration, as it closed in on its top lieutenants, officials pushed back aggressively, culminating in the arrest of the then-ACB Director General, Martha Chizuma, on trumped-up charges. Chakwera's administration attracted controversy by continuing to do business with Sattar-linked companies despite publicly severing ties. President Lazarus Chakwera’s Chief of Staff, Prince Kapondamgaga In November 2023, the Ministry of Finance authorized a payment of $4.98 million (about K8.8 billion) to International Armored Group for 32 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs)—a deal originally signed with Malachite FZE, a company linked to Sattar. This article was produced by the Platform for Investigative Journalism (PIJ), a non-profit centre for investigative journalism. READ MORE: Ex-Chief of Staff Dodges Prosecution Government Pays Sattar For ‘Restricted’ Contract Under ACB Probe Longest Arm of Justice: Sattar to Be Formally Charged In UK Court NCA Says Sattar’s UK Case Alive PIJ Investigations: How Sattar Bulldozed K14bn Police Water Cannons Deal Police Food Rations Were Coming to An End … But Sattar Had Other Plans Sattar Probe: UK Agents in Malawi as ‘Cashgate-Scale’ Scandal Unravels Sattar’s Web of Patronage Exposed in Court ABOUT THE AUTHORS JACK McBRAMS is a correspondent for the AFP News Agency, The Continent, and regularly writes for PIJ. Fatal Prescription, his 2021 PIJ investigation into the death of Kottana Chidyaonga, won him the MISA Malawi 2021 health governance award. Email [email protected] X: @mcbrams JULIUS MBEŴE is a journalist who regularly writes for PIJ. He has previously worked for YONECO FM. Email: [email protected] X: @CaleoneMbewe
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