DPP, ACB working to revoke Mphwiyo’s bail
The office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) says it has commenced processes to revoke bail for former budget director Paul Mphwiyo.
Consequently, the action may result in the State forfeiting the Cashgate suspect’s Area 43 house in Lilongwe, among others.
Mphwiyo, who is reported missing, is accused alongside others of defrauding the State of K2.4 billion in a Cashgate case which started in 2014.
In an interview on Tuesday, DPP Masauko Chamkakala indicated that his office is making the necessary applications in conjunction with the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to revoke bail.
Mphwiyo, who bonded his Area 43 house and four cash sureties worth K2 million each, is also on a K10 million cash bond.
Said Chamkakala: “It was confirmed that the suspect never reported for his bail as per the court order. We are making the necessary applications in conjunction with ACB to revoke bail. Further, other law enforcement agencies have initiated protocols to trace the whereabouts of the suspect with the intention of bringing him back to court.”
ACB spokesperson Egrita Ndala asked for more time to respond to our questionnaire on the specific applications the bureau is filing with the courts.
Records show that Mphwiyo last reported to the bureau on June 19 2023 as part of the bail condition.
Asked on the progress to trace Mphwiyo, National Police spokesperson Peter Kalaya said efforts are being made to locate him, stressing that he is both a missing person and a fugitive.
Mphwiyo’s wife reported on June 26 2023 that her husband was missing and there are suggestions that he may have crossed the country’s borders.
Said Kalaya: “There is still no fresh update on his whereabouts, but as police we are still working together with Interpol to try and find him.”
In an interview Mphwiyo’s lawyer Michael Goba Chipeta said he intends to inform the court to discharge him from the case saying he cannot represent a client who does not exist.
In 2015, High Court judge Charles Mkandawire ordered that Mphwiyo should travel to South Africa for medical attention on July 19 and return by August 2 the same year.
In an earlier interview, Ndala indicated that upon return, Mphwiyo never surrendered his passport to ACB.
But Ndala could not explain why the bureau never enforced the bail condition to have the passport back.
Mphwiyo and others are expected to face judgement in the High Court at a date yet to be set for the Cashgate case which concluded last year.
