By Linda Kwanjana

Pressure is intensifying on controversial businessman Mahmood Azhar Chaudhry after he allegedly lied under oath in court by claiming he was a Pakistan diplomat in Malawi, with human rights activists urging authorities to expedite his prosecution for perjury.

Private prosecutors have already sought consent from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to pursue the case, but the DPP is yet to grant approval.

Court records show that in several High Court cases involving business disputes, Chaudhry repeatedly claimed diplomatic status as a consular representative of Pakistan, a claim the Ministry of Foreign Affairs dismissed in 2022 as false.

Court records show that he lied in a sworn statement which was submitted in court that he is a diplomat.

Human rights activist Chonze Nkhalango said the delay in prosecuting Chaudhry despite overwhelming evidence reflects dangerous impunity.

“The man kept claiming in court that he was a diplomat, yet the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made it clear he was not. This undermines authorities at the highest level. He needs to face the law,” Nkhalango said.

Activist Wongani Namchiswe echoed the concern, describing it as unacceptable that Chaudhry is evading accountability for a serious offence.

“He needed to be prosecuted as early as yesterday; and if that cannot be done, get him deported. This man has done more harm to this nation, including dubious land transfers into his family’s Malhi Trust,” Namchiswe said.

Namchiswe further alleged that Kumakoka Trading Company, a firm that received over K523 million in upfront payments from the Ministry of Energy for the Malawi Rural Electrification Programme (MAREP) but failed to deliver goods, is linked to Chaudhry. He said Chaudhry admitted in court that the company was his proxy.

The Attorney General (AG) is already pursuing civil action to recover more than K1.4 billion from Kumakoka Trading and two other firms, though Grant Kaseko is listed as Kumakoka’s owner.

Civil society groups, led by the Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC), recently demanded that Chaudhry be stripped of his Malawian citizenship, arrested, and deported to Pakistan. HRCC chairperson Robert Mkwezalamba accused him of fraudulently posing for years as a consular representative despite the ministry’s 2022 clarification that he never held diplomatic status.

The ministry confirmed that the identity card issued to him did not confer any privileges or immunities under Malawi law. Yet Chaudhry erected a signpost declaring his Blantyre residence the “Pakistan Consulate” and drove vehicles bearing diplomatic plates reserved for accredited envoys.

Michael Kaiyatsa of the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) said misuse of diplomatic symbols is a criminal offence under the Penal Code.

“If revocation of citizenship and deportation were not pursued, at the very least prosecution for lying to public officers should have followed. Instead, government’s silence has emboldened impunity. We demand action,” he told the media.

Civil society leaders warned that continued inaction risks eroding public trust and emboldening further abuses. Governance experts have also insisted that deportation would send a strong signal of zero tolerance for fraudsters.

By Linda Kwanjana

Sentinel Exports, an Indian supplier, has sued Blantyre-based businessman Mahmood Azhar Chaudhry, originally from Pakistan but holding a Malawian citizenship, over unpaid dues amounting to more than US$1.6 million (about K2.87 billion at current bank rate).

The case, filed through lawyer Kalekeni Kaphale before the High Court’s Commercial Division in Lilongwe, seeks payment of US$821,294.45 for assorted uniforms and items supplied to the Malawi Police Service under Chaudhry’s contract.

Court records show the goods were delivered between September and December 2020, and Chaudhry was paid in full by the Police Service, but he allegedly failed to remit the agreed amounts to Sentinel Exports.

The claim also includes US$585,150.68 in compound interest at 10 percent per annum, US$210,966.77 in statutory legal collection costs, and US$36,919.18 in value-added tax on those costs.

Despite repeated undertakings to respond, Chaudhry has yet to file a defence or comply with court instructions, including indicating whether he intends to contest the matter.

The Indian supplier, according to officials closer to the firm, may consider pushing for prosecution of Chaudhrey on criminal charges of obtaining goods by false pretence.

Chaudhry and his wife, Neelam Azhar Mahmood, also recently secured a temporary legal relief after the Limbe Magistrate Court granted a stay order suspending warrants of arrest issued against them by the Limbe Magistrate’s Court.

The stay order temporarily halts police action against the couple, who are facing a string of criminal allegations, including fraudulently obtaining Malawian citizenship, making false statements to public officers and misrepresenting diplomatic status.

Out of misrepresenting diplomatic status, private prosecutors have picked on him and are pursuing a charge of pejury, following a false statement he presented in court that he is a diplomat.

Meanwhile, private prosecutors pursuing the matter have formally petitioned the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to grant consent for the prosecution and join the proceedings, signalling their determination to press ahead with the case despite the temporary court relief.

The warrants, issued under Case No. 469, accuse Chaudhry of making false declarations to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services and the Ministry of Homeland Security between October 2001 and August 2004 to secure Malawian citizenship.

According to court documents, Chaudhry allegedly claimed he entered Malawi on August 20, 1994 to establish ordinary residence. However, investigators contend immigration records show he first entered the country in April 1995 and only became lawfully resident in August 1998, raising questions over the legitimacy of his citizenship application.

Civil society organisations have also recently called for prosecution and deportation of the couple. They have also accused them of undermining the authorities in Malawi.

Chaudhry has also made several fraudulent land transfers into his family trust, bypassing necessary required steps.

Criminal charges Chaudhry is facing also include falsely presenting himself as a consular officer of the Republic of Pakistan between 2018 and 2022. Prosecutors allege he misled the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Malawi Revenue Authority, the Road Traffic Directorate, the Malawi Police Service, the courts and other public institutions into believing he enjoyed diplomatic privileges and immunities.

His wife, Neelam Azhar Mahmood, separately faces allegations of falsely declaring herself a Malawian citizen during a land transfer transaction despite allegedly being a British national.