It is one year since the Mzuzu Senior Resident Magistrate’s Court concluded hearing an abuse of public funds case against former Mzimba Hora legislator Christopher Mzomera Ngwira and councillor Dan Nkosi.
To date, parties to the case are yet to know the outcome in a move that contradicts the Judiciary’s own commitment to have judgements delivered within 90 days of conclusion of hearing.
Court documents in criminal case number 50 of 2020 heard before senior resident magistrate Godfrey Nyirenda show that the trial was concluded in March 2024.
High Court of Malawi and Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal chief registrar Innocent Nebi had not responded to our inquiry by press time yesterday, but the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) confirmed that judgement for the case is yet to be delivered.
In a written response, ACB acting director general Hilary Chilomba said the court was supposed to deliver its judgement on February 24 2025, but later communicated that logistical challenges made it difficult to do so.
“The court communicated that since the magistrate is operating from Nkhata Bay, he was yet to be allocated resources to travel to Mzuzu to deliver the judgement. Thus, the court adjourned delivery of the judgement to a later date. The court is yet to set the next date it shall deliver the judgement,” he said.
According to the charge sheet, Ngwira and Nkosi face multiple charges of misuse of their public positions to divert funds meant for Constituency Development Fund (CDF) during their 2014-2019 term of office as member of Parliament (MP) and councillor, respectively.
One of the charges is that the two allegedly diverted building ma-terials valued at K2 120 067 meant for a project at Mzalangwe Po-lice Unit.
The two are also accused of misusing their positions by divert-ing building materials valued at K3 760 969 meant for projects at Chankhalamu Primary School and Luweya Bridge.
In July 2023, Chief Justice Rizine Mzikamanda told our sister paper, the Weekend Nation that apart from the Judiciary putting in place measures and mechanisms to ensure speedy delivery of judgements, Parliament passed into law the Courts Act that mandates judicial officers to deliver rulings within 90 days or face disciplinary proceedings.
In April 2023, the Weekend Nation reported that Justice of Appeal Dorothy NyaKaunda Kamanga was in the spotlight after taking over a year to deliver judgement on the murder of Macdonald Masambuka, a boy with albinism in Machinga.
The Legal Aid Bureau wrote the Judiciary to raise a concern over the delay.
During the Judiciary’s 2017 Sherry Party, then Malawi Law Society president John Suzi-Banda challenged judicial officers to stop cre-ating excuses for delays in delivering judgements, arguing that the practice was a threat to the long-term legitimacy and efficacy of the institution.
In 2021, Ngwira was found guilty of abusing K250 000 local development funds and was sentenced to four years i,prisonment, but in 2022, the High Court in Mzuzu released Ngwira on health grounds.
