Senzani verdict October 2
The High Court in Lilongwe will on October 2 2014, decide the fate of former principal secretary for Tourism Treza Namathanga Senzani who was convicted on charges of theft and laundering K63.5 million (US$154 126) in public funds.
Senzani’s lawyer, Necton Mhura, yesterday pleaded with the court not to pass a custodial sentence on his client because she had demonstrated remorse for her actions by returning the stolen money to government in the form of cash and a house valued at K61 million.
Mhura said maximum sentences should only be reserved for the gravest of offences and not on an accused person who had pleaded guilty.
Said Mhura: “In the present case, the accused person [Senzani] cannot be deemed the worst offender in view of her plea of guilty. It is our indication that she is remorseful and this has been demonstrated through the restitution. She has not benefited from the crime by keeping the proceeds of crime.”
He also claimed that Senzani had cooperated with the prosecution and did not waste the court and prosecution’s resources through a lengthy trial.
He also mentioned her age, 65, and that she had been dismissed from her job as mitigating factors for not imposing a custodial sentence on Senzani.
Said Mhura: “Sending Mrs Senzani to jail will not bring drugs into our hospitals. The public is more interested in the restituting part of the criminal justice system.”
But State prosecutor Reyneck Matemba, who is Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) deputy director, said Senzani obtained K63.5 million from government coffers knowing she would be punished and lose her job when caught.
He said: “Malawians are victims of this crime. Withdrawal of donor aid is a direct impact of Cashgate. I feel sad that counsel doesn’t see the connection between the theft and plunder of government resources to withdrawal of donor aid. I urge the court to pass a custodial sentence that fits the crime.”
In his submission, Matemba made reference to several newspaper stories which indicated that as a result of withholding donor aid resulting from Cashgate, government borrowed heavily and people lost lives in hospitals due to shortage of drugs.
But High Court Judge Ivy Kamanga was not convinced, asking the prosecution to submit more information in support of whether she should take judicial notice of such newspaper articles by Friday.
If given custodial sentence, Senzani will be the first of Cashgate suspects to be jailed since revelations of the plunder surfaced in September last year.
A forensic audit report for April to September, 2013 found that K13 billion (US$31 553 398.1) was lost from government coffers through Cashgate.
I think its fair that she not be given a jail sentence. She has shown remorse and the fact that she has been in the lime light through the media is already devastating to her and her family. She has paid back the money and that may be an indication that she stole the money because at that particular time government money was let loose and everybody who had access to such money could take as much as they wished (which was a temptation most people could fall in as well). Let her go! She and her family have suffered enough.
akalowe basi why feel sorry for a thief.