Kabambe, others’ case faces 45-day delay
The Lilongwe Magistrate’s Court has adjourned the case of alleged abuse of office against former Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) governor Dalitso Kabambe and others following a plea by the State for more time to complete preparations.
Kabambe, 48, Henry Mathanga, 59, Rodrick Wiyo, 51 and Leah Donga, 43, were arrested following a forensic audit report into fraudulent local and foreign payments made by RBM between January 1 2019 and June 30 2020.
Particulars of the case indicate that Kabambe as governor, Mathanga as deputy governor for operations, Wiyo as director of financial markets operations and Donga as senior dealer for finance and market operations, allegedly abused their authority by paying K4.3 billion to FDH Bank plc without approval of the central bank’s board.
The four are also accused of negligence and money laundering.
In an interview following a brief court appearance, Director of Public Prosecutions Steven Kayuni said the State asked for the adjournment to complete preparations for the case.
He said: “We asked for 45 days and we have been granted 30 days for preparation and compliance with disclosures. There are 15 days to file the paper work.
“We had some witnesses in isolation and they are out and we had to get cooperation of foreign countries such as Mauritius and United Arab Emirates which is now happening.”
Lawyer Khumbo Soko, who is representing the third accused, also said the defence is ready for the case, but will for now wait for the State to start the proceedings.
Kabambe and his co-accused are yet to take plea and the State previously read out holding charges in court which included four counts of various offences. The State indicated that investigations were still in progress.
Lilongwe chief resident magistrate Patrick Chirwa granted the accused persons bail despite the State’s objections.
