High Court rejects Mphwiyo wife’s bid

The High Court of Malawi has dismissed applications by former Ministry of Finance budget director Paul Mphwiyo’s wife, Thandizo, to set aside an order for forfeiture of the couple’s house in Area 43, Lilongwe.

Mphwiyo, who is answering Cashgate charges, deposited the house as part of his bail bond and it was forfeited to the government after he jumped bail.

But Thandizo later asked the court to set aside the order and stay the forfeiture process on the basis that the house in question was a matrimonial property and that she contributed towards its construction.

However, in her ruling dated April 23 2024, High Court Judge Ruth Chinangwa said Mphwiyo’s release on bail was based on the property in question to ensure his availability for trial, adding that to withdraw the property at the time of enforcement is a mockery to justice.

She said: “It is quite interesting to note that the intervenor is picking and choosing which of the bonded property is matrimonial property for which her rights are to be enforced. If this argument was to be stretched further, it would be that the respondent’s share would still have to be forfeited.

“As stated in this court’s ruling dated 28th March 2024, it is this court’s belief that the respondent, having been legally represented at the time of his bail application in the year 2014, should have been informed by counsel on the need to surrender properties that are free of encumbrances; and the consequences of absconding bail on the bonded properties.”

Chinangwa added that the High Court does not have the jurisdiction to stay the forfeiture order as it is a final judgement.

She said the application for stay lacked merit and was dismissed. On the one to stay forfeiture, the judge said it automatically fell off upon the unsuccessful bid in the other application.

The High Court ordered the forfeiture of the property in a ruling delivered on March 28 2024.

In an interview, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) spokesperson Egrita Ndala said the ruling means the house remains property of the Malawi Government and whatever was communicated to Mphwiyo’s family by the State still stands.

In his reaction, Thandizo’s lawyer Khumbo Soko said he will go through the ruling and advise his client.

“Well we have just received it. I will study it, advise the client and take her instructions,” he said.

The ACB already served Mphwiyo’s family with an eviction notice which gave the family up to April 30 to vacate the house.

The court last year revoked Mphwiyo’s bail following his failure to report for bail since June 2023. The court subsequently also ordered his re-arrest.

Mphwiyo is alleged to have fled the country in June 2023, just as the High Court had earlier indicated that it would deliver its ruling on the matter.

His wife reported on June 26 2023 that he was missing and there were suggestions that he may have crossed Malawi’s borders.

On September 23, 2023, Mphwiyo’s lawyer Michael Goba Chipeta  told The Nation that he would ask the court to discharge him from the case on the basis that 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. However, on his return, Mphwiyo did not surrender his passport to the ACB.