By Wezzie Gausi:
The High Court sitting in Lilongwe has ruled that plea taking in a case involving the alleged fabrication of figures presented to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will take place in April this year.
The figures in question allegedly misrepresented Malawi’s foreign reserves, falsely indicating a strong financial position.
The case involves former governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi Dalitso Kabambe, his former deputy Henry Mathanga and former minister of Finance Joseph Mwanamvekha.
The matter was brought before the court on Monday, when Judge Redson Kapindu was expected to rule on preliminary objections raised by the defence regarding the charge sheet.
However, after delivering his ruling, the defence pointed out that the judge had overlooked some of their objections to the charge sheet.
Kapindu acknowledged the omission and stated that the issue would be addressed when refining the final ruling.
Speaking in an interview, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Masauko Chamkakala said plea taking had been rescheduled for the end of April.
“Plea taking was initially set for March, but the court has moved it to April to allow one of the accused persons to participate in the parliamentary budget session.
“We, as the State, are satisfied with today’s proceedings and look forward to the ruling on the charge sheet objections,” Chamkakala said.
Kapindu has since adjourned the matter to March 10 and 11 for the continuation of the case.
The accused are alleged to have deliberately misrepresented Malawi’s Net International Reserves and Gross Reserve Liabilities to the IMF between 2018 and 2019 to create an overly positive image of the country’s financial standing.
In April last year, Kapindu acquitted Kabambe and Mathanga on charges of abuse of office but upheld the second count of fraud other than false pretences.
The alleged misreporting ultimately led to the IMF cancelling Malawi’s $108 million Extended Credit Facility programme.
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