Kabambe wants Chiunda,Mwanamvekha off case
Former Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) governor Dalitso Kabambe has asked the court to exclude former minister of Finance Joseph Mwanamvekha and ex-secretary to the Treasury Cliff Chiunda from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) data case.
Kabambe’s application in the High Court of Malawi Financial Crimes Division follows a notice the State issued that it intended to slap the duo with charges of fraud other than false pretence which Kabambe and Henry Mathanga, the former RBM deputy governor, are also answering.
In the application filed through Maele Law Practice, Kabambe argues that the move does not have a factual basis and it is irregular.
Reads the application: “Notably the Notice is not supported by any affidavit detailing the factual basis for the intended application to add the joint accused persons.
“Furthermore, there are no skeleton arguments in support of the Notice detailing the legal basis for the said application.”
A notice of hearing announcing the State’s intention to add Mwanamvekha and Chiunda as co-accused was issued last month.
It reads in part: “The State will apply to add Joseph Mwanamvekha and Cliff Kenneth Chiunda as joint accused in this case, scheduled for hearing on the 5th and 6th of August 2024 in the High Court, Financial Crimes Division Lilongwe Registry.”
The reinstatement of Mwanamvekha comes eight month after the court discharged him.
In discharging him, Judge Redson Kapindu said the State had failed to prove the case against the former minister under the Democratic Progressive Party administration.
The case stems from allegations that the accused painted a positive picture of Malawi’s Net International Reserves and Gross Reserve Liabilities to the IMF between 2018 and 2019.
The claimed misinformation, the State argues, caused “detriment to the Malawi Government as the IMF cancelled the $108 million (K183 billion at current exchange rate) Extended Credit Facility to the said government”.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Justice spokesperson Frank Namangale confirmed the development saying: “We received the application and we responded to it.”
The Financial Crimes Court is expected to set a date to hear the case which started in 2021. The accused have not yet taken plea.
In April this year, the court discharged Kabambe and Mathanga on the count of abuse of office.
