Former Malawi Minister of Finance Joseph Mwanamvekha and former Central Bank Governor Dalitso Kabambe who are accused of presenting false economic figures will spend another night in police custody as Lilongwe Senior Resident Magistrate Florence Msekandiana has reserved bail ruling in the case to tomorrow.
The two who are also aspirants for the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidency appeared before the court this afternoon following their arrest on Tuesday and Wednesday.
They both pleaded not guilty to charges of abuse of office and false accounting.
Director of Public Prosecutions Steven Kayuni asked Senior Resident Magistrate Florence Msekandiana that the suspects should remain in police custody for seven more day to allow the state to finalise investigations since the probe involve people close to the suspects. He added that the two may tamper with evidence.
However, lawyers for the two argued that the suspects do not know the identities of the witnesses and the evidence may still be available at International Monetary Fund, the institution to which the two are accused of presenting the false information.
The lawyers also argued that the state should have completed investigations before making arrests.
Msekandiana then reserved her ruling to Friday at 2PM.
Mwanamvekha served as Finance Minister in the DPP administration between 2019 and 2020, during which Kabambe was also Reserve Bank Governor.
Police said yesterday that Mwanamvekha and Kabambe procured and masterminded the falsification of Gross Liability and Net Reserve Base Returns with intent to make the International Monetary Fund believe that the Government of Malawi was meeting conditions connected to the extended credit facility.
“As a result of this scheme IMF suspended the said extended credit facility to the prejudice of innocent ordinary Malawians,” said James Kadadzera, Malawi Police spokesperson.
