Mwanamvekha off the hook

The High Court of Malawi has discharged former minister of Finance Joseph Mwanamvekha from a case he and two others were accused of falsifying information to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) between 2018 and 2019.

The former minister of Finance during the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration was arrested in December 2021 and charged alongside former Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) governor Dalitso Kabambe and deputy governor Henry Mathanga.

However, the case against Kabambe and Mathanga is still in progress.

The trio was accused of misrepresentation of figures purportedly to make the IMF believe that the Government of Malawi was meeting conditions of the then $108 million Extended Credit Facility (ECF).

In his judgement delivered in Lilongwe on Tuesday, High Court Judge Redson Kapindu observed that the State conceded having no requisite evidence against Mwanamvekha and that based on the same, chances of a conviction against him were “unrealistic”.

The judge wondered why Mwanamvekha was arrested and taken through a process of commencement of prosecution by having him take a plea in the lower court when the State was aware that it did not have evidence against him.

Said Kapindu: “Was it a case of arresting him with a view to investigating later, only to realise that there was actually no evidence?”

The judge’s sentiments followed the affidavit of senior State advocate Festas Sakanda who, in response to Mwanamvekha’s application for discharge, said there was “no circumstantial evidence strong enough linking him to the crimes”.

The affidavit further stated that on “the totality of the evidence, the prospect of obtaining a conviction against the 1st accused person is unrealistic”.

Following the concessions, the court inquired from the State why it could not enter a discontinuance of the proceedings under Section 77 of the Criminal Proceedings and Evidence Code (CPEC), to which the State responded that as much as it had no evidence against Mwanamvekha, they would rather leave it to the court to discharge him under Section 270 of the CPEC.

In discharging Mwanamvekha, the court used Section 247 of the CPEC which states that when proceedings have been instituted under Section 83 and, at the time fixed for the hearing of the case or the time to which a hearing is adjourned,  the complainant or the prosecutor, as the case may be, is either absent or unable or unwilling to proceed with the case against the accused, the court,  if satisfied that the complainant or prosecutor has had reasonable notice of the time and place fixed for the hearing, shall, unless it considers there is good reason to adjourn the hearing, discharge the accused.

Reacting to the court decision in a telephone interview yesterday, former Attorney General Kalekeni Kaphale, who represented Mwanamvekha, said justice had been done and unnecessary trial avoided.

He said every person needs to go to trial when there is evidence and that it is surprising that the State has conceded lacking evidence yet they arrested his client and had him go through the Magistrate Court up to the High Court.

Said Kaphale: “Just like any lawyer, I am happy for my client, but I cannot comment much right now on the next course of action. The defence will in the meantime let the ruling sink in.”

On his part, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Masauko Chamkakala said the State will review the ruling and decide on the way forward.

In his application for discharge, Mwanamvekha, among others, submitted that when the alleged offences were committed between December 2018 or the end of June 2019, he did not serve as governor or deputy governor of the RBM. He said from November 7 2018 he was serving in the capacity of minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development.

The judge said the State is at liberty to commence proceedings against Mwanamvekha within 12 months on account of the same facts.

Kabambe was arrested and granted bail in December 2021 on charges of falsifying economic indicators while Mathanga was granted bail in March 2022 on the same charges after he surrendered himself to police.