.jpeg&w=60&q=100&h=60)
.jpeg&w=60&q=100&h=60)
Cashgate suspect Osward Lutepo is on Friday scheduled to appear before High court in Lilongwe, to answer the context of the letter he wrote to the Attorney General Kalekeni Kaphale alleging that he was forced to write false caution statements.
Spokesperson for Ministry of Justice Apoche itimu confirmed the development in an interview on Monday, saying that the state wants Lutepo to testify over the letter’s contents.
Lutepo on July 17 this year wrote to Attorney General withdrawing his first ‘statement’ which claimed that he was forced by former Justice Minister Fahad Asani, former Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Bruno Kalemba and Prosecutor Kamudoni Nyasulu to write caution statements to implicate private lawyers Wapona Kita and Ralph Kasambara.
In the letter Lutepo asked Kaphale among others, to institute proceedings on the alleged professional conduct of the three as well as investigate death threats the suspect claimed he was receiving.
“From December 2013 to March 2014, I was on numerous occasions summoned by various police officers and forced under duress to write statements implicating various individuals. I was forced to write three of four statements on any given activity, claimed Lutepo in the letter.
In an emailed response yesterday Itimu said: “The state wants the suspect (Lutepo) to testify on what he wrote to the Attorney General, the claims he made, it will also involve what he testified in the case of Victor Sithole,”
Following the issuing of the letter, Lutepo was arrested by police in Kasungu and charged with perjury, which technically means he lied under oath.
Kaphale is quoted in the media to have ‘dismissed’ Lutepo’s claims as ‘unsubstantiated’.
According to Kaphale the accusations by the suspect will not affect the charges levelled against him.
Lilongwe Magistrates’ Court granted Lutepo bail on perjury charges.
Besides the perjury charges, Lutepo is also answering charges of theft and money laundering involving K2.6 billion.
