Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) procurement manager Aitone Chandiyang'ana accused of leaking top level K135 million dubious calendars deal which implicated Director General Godfrey Itaye, on Tuesaday pleaded not guilty.
Chandiyang'ana is answering three charges of leaking information about the vanished of K135 million a from MACRA, an illegal transmission to online news Nyasa Times contrary to Section 84 of the Electronic Transaction Act 33 of 2016 Laws of Malawi.
He is being represented by lawyer Chancy Gondwe, who was not in court but delegated another lawyer to represent him.
Macra which is being represented by M&M Global's Kingsley Mapemba who had asked the case to proceed after the accused pleaded not guilty, but the magistrate quashed the application saying the Director of Public Prosecution had not yet given written consent to co-prosecute the matter privately.
On Tuesday, Senior Resident Magistrate Balaka ruled that the matter be heard on 20 September on condition that M&M Global lawyers submit a written consent from the DPP and all documents served to the accused.
M&M Global had in April written the DPP seeking consent to privately prosecute the matter which was earlier thrown out of Chief Resident Magistrate Viva Nyimbas court for lack of merit.
Present in the court was Macra Director of Legal Affairs Dan Chiwoni, Finance Manager Phillip Nakoma and ICT Manager Christopher Banda. Itaye was not present in the court.
The accused was arrested by Fiscal Police on Itayes orders for being suspected to have blown the rampant corruption which promoted the ACB to raid Macra house early this year.
Under pressure from the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) and External. Auditors Price water house which conducted a forensic audit, Itaye has been forcing administration managers not to give the ACB vital information regarding the dubious K135 million Fattani Digital Printers Calendars deal.
Last month National Bank of Malawi in a letter which Nyasa Times has seen addressed to Itaye, the bank is asking their client to invest his 100million kwacha " which has been lying idle in his account" since last year.
Documents from FDH bank where Itaye holds another personal account has more than K3 .2 billion kwacha which the ACB says is yet to establish its source
Itaye has since the revelations about the vanished K135 million dubious calendars deal, refused to speak with Nyasa Times but opted to sue the suspected whistle blower.
President Peter Mutharika incensed with the corruption rot at Macra ordered the ACB to get to the bottom of the rot. He is yet to be seen to act decisively against any corrupt official.
