Energy director found with case to answer
The Lilongwe Magistrate’s Court has found Ministry of Energy director Cassius Chiwambo with a case to answer in a matter he is accused of abusing his office to influence the award of Malawi Rural Electrification Programme (Marep) Phase 9 contract to some suppliers.
Chiwambo, who is answering one count of abuse of office and one count of influencing a public officer to abuse his office, appeared before chief resident magistrate Madalisto Chimwaza yesterday for a ruling on whether he has a case to answer.
Chimwaza said the State presented evidence that proved that Chiwambo needs to enter defence.
“He can decide to remain silent, call witnesses, or testify. If he decides to remain silent, the court will enter judgement,” said Chimwaza.
The chief resident magistrate added that the case will be handed to a new chief resident magistrate as she has been appointed High Court judge.
She then adjourned the matter to a date that will be set by her successor.
In an interview, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) principal legal and prosecutions officer Peter Simbani hailed the ruling, saying it is a good step in the handling of the case.
He said: “Despite that the standard is a little bit low but it requires the State to make out its case sufficiently enough for the accused to enter its defence.
“As State, we feel we have reached that standard and we are going to see how it will pan out when the accused makes his defence.”
Defence lawyer Bright Theu said he will have to consult his client on the way forward.
He said his client will decide whether to parade witnesses to defend himself or remain silent.
Said Theu: “When criminal proceedings are pending on you for a long time, a lot of things are affected at a personal level.
“The defence will depend so much on steps we take ourselves. The ball is in our court and we hope that at the extent possible by our side, we can call the shots and get the case to be going at a faster pace.”
In June 2021, ACB stopped the Ministry of Energy from awarding contracts for the supply of materials for Marep 9 amid corruption allegations.
In September 2021, ACB released its findings that the ministry flouted procurement procedures by inviting bids without involving the internal procurement and disposal committee (IPDC), contrary to Section 26 (2) (h) of the PPDA Act (2017) as read with Public Procurement Regulation (2020) 10 (1) (a).
