Maravi

‘Rich’ govt worker loses application

‘Rich’ govt worker loses application
Written by Maluba Jere
Friday, May 22, 2009 2:05:07 PM

LUSAKA High Court judge Evans Hamaundu has rejected former Ministry of Health official Henry Kapoko's application for judicial review, in which he was challenging the seizure of his property by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) saying he was not the right applicant to commence the proceedings.

This is in a matter where Kapoko had filed an application for a judicial review to challenge the seizure of his property and that of innocent third parties by the ACC.

In his application for judicial review, Kapoko asked the court to declare the ACC's decision to seize the said property null and void.

He also applied that the court should quash the decision by the commission to seize the property in contention.

But in his ruling yesterday, judge Hamaundu said the applicant had no direct and personal interest to the seizure of the motor vehicles and that the action ought to have been taken to court by the owners of the seized property.

He said consequently, the owners of the seized motor vehicles would be in a better position than the applicant to give to the court the reasons why the said motor vehicles should be released to them.

“While I am aware that the applicant has shown that the vehicles were seized pursuant to investigations being conducted against him, it is my view that the owners of those motor vehicles have a more direct and personal interest to the seizure of the vehicles than the applicant has,” judge Hamaundu said.

He noted that according to law, the overriding rule governing the standing of the applicant to apply for a judicial review was that the court should consider that the applicant had sufficient interest in the matter to which the application related.

Judge Hamaundu said if the applicant had a direct personal interest in the relief, which he was seeking, then it was very likely to be considered as having sufficient interest in the matter to which the application related.

However, judge Hamaundu said if the applicant's interest in the matter was not direct or personal, but a general or public interest, then the matter would be for the court to determine whether the applicant has the requisite standing to apply for judicial relief.

“Clearly the formula ‘sufficient interest’ is not intended to create a class of person, popularly referred to as a private attorney general, who seeks to champion public interest in which he is not himself directly or personally concerned under the guise of applying for judicial review,” he said.

In his application for judicial review on Tuesday, Kapoko claimed that despite him explaining clearly to ACC officers that the vehicles were not his, they still went ahead and seized all of them and extended the seizures to other people they thought had a hand in the alleged corruption.

He named the third parties as Rudo Chitengu, Murruam Chinyanbu, Mwila Kalikeka, Mabishe Notulu and a woman called Gloria.

Kapoko further said the X5 BMW vehicle seized belongs to Fred Chileshe, the unregistered van to a Mr Hassan, another unregistered Mercedez Benz CLS 500 to Rashidi while the Hummer and the Ford Ranger belong to another person.

Last week the ACC unearthed a corruption scam in which over K10 billion government funds were suspected to have been corruptly obtained from the Ministry of Health.

The commission has also seized and restricted property in excess of K3 billion allegedly belonging to Kapoko, who is now working at the Ministry of Local Government and Housing in the same department.

Labels: CIVIL SERVANTS, COURTS, EVANS HAMAUNDA, HENRY KAPOKO

posted by MrK @ 1:07 PM