Vandals have pounced on fugitive Cashgate suspect Paul Mphwiyo’s house in Area 43, Lilongwe, which was forfeited by the State after he jumped bail, The Nation can reveal.
The High Court of Malawi ordered the forfeiture of the property, valued at K690 million, in March 2024 following Mphwiyo’s failure to honour bail conditions over corruption and money laundering charges linked to the 2013 Cashgate scandal uncovered while he worked as Ministry of Finance budget director.
However, over a year later, the once lavish residence is in a state of ruin.
The Nation visited the property on Monday and noted extensive damage, with doors, windows, electrical fittings and appliances stripped from the house. The servant’s quarters are also ransacked while walls of the main house have some visible cracks with paint peeling off.
There are also missing light bulbs, switches and electrical wiring while the compound is overgrown with weeds, giving an impression of abandonment. Only the bar area and pool side, now used by G4S Secure Logistics personnel, look intact.
The Na t ion enquir y established that the security firm was hired after the vandalism had already occurred.
In a written response yesterday, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Masauko Chamkakala confirmed the vandalism, but stressed that security has now been deployed.
“There was an incident of vandalism, but we have deployed more security. We are in the process of finalising the final disposal of the property,” he said.
Chamkakala said the process to dispose of the property will be concluded by next month.
A December 6 2024 report posted on the Basel Institute on Governance’s International Centre for Asset Recovery (Icar) website indicated that the house may be converted into Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) offices to reduce government rental costs.
But Chamkalala could not confirm this aspect, saying there are “town planning restrictions, which limit usage of some properties within certain areas” for offices.
The ACB, which is the prosecuting agency in the Mphwiyo case, has not responded to our questionnaire.
Mphwiyo’s wife, Thandi, challenged the forfeiture, arguing it was a family home. But the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal, in December last year, upheld the High Court ruling.
In a written response yesterday, lawyer Jai Banda said lack of proper guidelines to manage properties recovered from convictions or non-conviction based arrangement contribute to the State failing to properly manage forfeited assets.
“However, Malawi has made progress in establishing guidelines for managing forfeited properties. I am not sure if the Ministry of Finance has finalised reviewing regulations to operationalise the Forfeiture or Confiscation Fund, which will facilitate the management of recovered assets,” he said.
Icar, which has worked closely with the ACB and public prosecutors under a United Kingdom-funded Tac k l i ng Ser i o u s and Organ i sed Cor ruption programme in Malawi , described the Mphwiyo ruling as landmark for Malawi’s non-conviction-based forfeiture regime.
In 2013, government impounded s i x Scan ia Marcopolo buses from a Cashgate suspect. The buses were left to rot at National Police Headquarters for years, ultimately losing value before being disposed of.
