Former Tobacco Commission Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kayisi Sadala who was arrested on Tuesday has been granted bail today.
Sadala is accused of facilitating the sale of two Tobacco Commission houses between 2018 and 2019.
The state wanted Sadala to remain in police custody for 14 more days, saying he would jeopardise investigations into the issue.
However, Chief Resident Magistrate Madalitso Chimwaza said the suspect is not a flight risk and cannot interfere with the state’s investigations or witnesses.
He then granted bail to Sadala, ordering him to surrender his travel documents and pay K500,000 cash.
Sadala is also expected to present non-cash sureties of K1 million each, and he is expected to be appearing before Area 30 police once every fortnight.
An Ombudsman report released last year indicated that Sadala was accused of selling a house at Area 10 in Lilongwe to Leader of Opposition Kondwani Nankhumwa for K125 million. Nankhumwa was a cabinet minister in the Peter Mutharika administration at the time the houses were allegedly sold.
Sadala also allegedly facilitated the sale of another house in Blantyre to Jayshree Patel at K50 million.
The houses were sold in spite of a ban on the sale of institutional houses.
