BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)- The High Court on Wednesday, November 21, 2024 dismissed an application in which former president Peter Mutharika’s personal bodyguard Norman Chisale was challenging an application by the State to forfeit his assets. The Court began hearing an application by the State on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, seeking to permanently forfeit Chisale’s assets valued at K1.7 billion.
These assets are believed to have been acquired through illicit means. The assets in question were initially seized in 2021 when the court ordered that Chisale’s properties be placed under the control of the State as per the Financial Crimes Act until the conclusion of the forfeiture proceedings, or until further court orders were issued. However, Chisale made an interim application seeking to stop the Court from hearing the State’s application.
Delivering the ruling to Chisale’s application in Blantyre, the High Court Judge Anneline Kanthambi noted that there was nothing that stopped the Court from proceeding to hear the State’s application for Chisale’s assets forfeiture. But soon after Kanthambi’s ruling, Chisale through his lawyer Chancy Gondwe asked the court to allow him to appeal the judge’s determination in the Supreme Court of Appeal. He further asked the court to stay the proceedings pending the Supreme Court of Appeal determination on the matter.
But in her ruling, Kanthambi also dismissed Chisale’s reactive application. Chisale’s lawyer, Chancy Gondwe, was.