An aggrieved Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) employee has filed a damning complaint to the Permanent Secretary to the President (PSP), Elias Magosi against the crime busting agency which he has depicted as corrupt and grossly unprofessional.
Among a litany of accusations, the complainant (names known to this publication) has alleged that the DCEC former Director General, Joseph Mathambo, had tried to defeat the ends of justice in the Morupisi corruption case by displaying a “reluctance to pursue the matter in court.”
Morupisi is charged with two counts of corruption and one count of money laundering.
The DCEC employee further stated that Mathambo, in his efforts to meddle and interfere with investigations, he went as far as holding clandestine meetings with Morupisi and his co-accused, Rapula Okaile, without the involvement of the investigation team.
The investigators, according to the letter, were unaware of what was discussed in those meetings until it emerged at a meeting that Mathambo had received documents that were meant to be used by the DCEC to exonerate Morupisi from the corruption charges.
The investigator further alleges that finally when the charge sheet against Morupisi and his wife were drafted, their boss, much to their confusion instructed them not serve Morupisi.They claimed that Mathambo told them that the charge sheet was defective.
“We phoned Ms Israel of the DPP to ask whether to proceed or not, and she said that to continue as she was not aware of any defect in the charge sheet. She further told us that she was expecting a return of service,” the later states.
Upon arrival at Morupisi’s office they say the once-powerful civil servant downright refused to accept the charge sheet and made stunning revelations about what was discussed at his meeting with the DG.
“Mr Morupisi refused to accept the charge sheet. He specifically addressed the DG DCEC asking him about the documents which he gave him to prove he had not committed any wrongdoing. Mathambo became very uneasy to a point of coughing and then asked to be excused,”the letter states in part.
The investigator further states that since then their relationship with the DG deteriorated until he was fired. At the time of going to press the government had not responded to the complaint by the investigators.
Morupisi refused to comment, citing that his case was still before the court.
“As you can imagine I will be in court in a couple of weeks for every case you speak of. So I can’t comment for now,” he said when The Voice asked him why he met privately with the DG instead of Investigators.
Meanwhile Mathambo rejected our phone calls. The current DG of the DCEC, Tymon Katholo who took over from Mathambo distanced himself and the DCEC under his leadership from such malpractices and corruption. When reached for comment Katholo did not deny possibilities of suspects trying to defeat the ends of justice but said the DCEC has processes to mitigate against such.
“When dealing with corruption cases there is a possibility for an accused person to fight back but we know how to deal with those. I cannot answer for what happened before I arrived, besides the complaint is with the PSP office and not with the DCEC, ” Katholo said.
Morupisi returns to court in two weeks where he is expected to give defence in the criminal case against him and his wife, Pini Morupisi.
