The High Court in Lilongwe has dismissed an application by former Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) governor Dalitso Kabambe seeking permission to apply for judicial review of the State’s decision to prosecute him in the K6.2 billion Covid-19 funds donation case.
In his ruling, delivered on April 28 2025, Judge Redson Kapindu states that Kabambe’s application for permission to apply for judicial review is misconceived as it failed to meet the legal threshold required.
Kabambe was arrested alongside former RBM deputy governor Henry Mathanga, RBM secretary Samuel Malitoni and former secretary to Treasury Cliff Chiunda.
They are accused of soliciting the central bank’s board of directors to contravene the law on appropriation of profits to pay government for the Covid-19 Disaster response in 2020.
In his application, Kabambe argued that it was the board’s resolution to donate the funds; hence, he wondered why other board members were not arrested if the decision was unlawful.
According to court documents, besides Kabambe, Mathanga and Chiunda, the other board members that Kabambe wanted involved are Grant Kabango and Maria Msiska, who were part of the unanimous board decision to donate the funds.
Kabambe argues in the application: “The decision to prosecute [me], Mathanga and Chiunda while leaving out the other two board members who were equally involved in the decision amounts to selective and discriminatory prosecution, and violates the right to equality and equal treatment before the law.”
However, in its argument, the State said the charge treats all board members equally as a collective body and that no individual has been charged for merely participating in the resolution.
The State further indicated that Kabambe omitted facts concerning statutory and administrative responsibilities of the office of the governor, deputy governor, RBM secretary and secretary to the Treasury and that he failed to clarify who initiated the board paper.
Additionally, the State argued that Kabambe was bringing a civil procedure in a criminal matter.
The judge said the court was not satisfied that Kabambe made out a case fit for further investigation and consideration at a full judicial review hearing.
States Kapindu: “Accordingly, the application for permission to apply for judicial review is hereby refused.
“In the light of the foregoing, the application for interim relief, including the prayer for a stay of the criminal proceedings herein, also automatically falls away.”
Public prosecutor Kamudoni Nyasulu has since hailed the ruling.
“If one has issues with the decision by DPP to prosecute him they should present that to the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament,” he said.
Kabambe’s lawyer Fostino Maele said he was yet to go through the ruling, adding he also needed to discuss the matter with his client.
In 2020, the Ombudsman’s report on how the National Covid-19 Preparedness and Response Plan was implemented revealed maladministration of funds by the Coordination Cluster of the Presidential Taskforce.
It also faulted RBM for violating its own rules by making an ‘unjustified’ donation of K6.2 billion to the Covid-19 fund through Dodma account.
