Nine years after former budget director Paul Mphwiyo survived a shooting, he and 17 others remain on trial for alleged plunder of K2.4 billion taxpayer money. The trial is closed to the public following the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions; hence, limiting access to presiding judge, State and defence lawyers, court reporters, accused persons and witnesses.
The trial is now at defence stage after the court found Mphwiyo and others with a case to answer.
On Friday, as one of the accused persons, an IT expert Steve Phiri, who formerly worked for the Accountant General’s Office, faced cross-examination from Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Steve Kayuni on how he—despite claiming to have stopped working for the civil service—entered multiple times the system and authorised transactions.
According to recollections of officials inside the courtroom—separately confirmed by the DPP—Kayuni asked Phiri why evidence in form of digital trail in the Integrated Financial Information Management System (Ifmis) software managed by Softec showed that Phiri, on multiple occasions accessed the system.
According to sources recollections, the DPP further focused on how he [Phiri], who said during testimony he had stopped working for the government, physically accessed government buildings at night—per digital evidence in the system.
Speaking in an interview, Kayuni said he was satisfied by the cross-examination as the Softec report and evidence of the digital trail raises questions over the “consultancy” Phiri was conducting for the office.
Phiri is currently without any legal representation together with the majority of the Cashgate suspects in this case except Paul Mphwiyo, David Kandoje and Clemence Madzi after previous lawyers left their clients in the middle of the trial.
Other accused persons are George Banda, Michael Mphatso, Samuel Mzanda, Andrews Chilalika, Auzius Kazombo, Stanford Mpoola, Fatch Chungamo, Sympathy Chisale, Cecilia Ng’ambi, Stanley Mtambo, Gerald Magretta Phiri and Ndaona Satema.
One of the accused persons Leonard Kalonga, pleaded guilty to all charges and turned into a State witness after striking a deal with the State.
On the update of the case, Kayuni said after the State closed its case, the court found all the accused persons with a case to answer and the accused persons are now testifying in defence—a process that may happen until March.
“Six have given evidence in their defence. We are on the seventh one who finished his evidence in chief and cross-examination by the State. He starts his defence re-examination Monday. Dependent on whether the rest decide to testify in defence or not there are at least 10 accused persons to go. The court has given the hearing dates all the way to March that this matter comes to its conclusion. The prosecution team [State] hopes the hearing will be concluded as per court advised calendar,” he said.
Over K24 billion taxpayer money was stolen in fraudulent contracts—including non-existent ones—between May and September 2013 in the biggest corruption scheme in modern Malawi that was partly brought to limelight by Mphwiyo’s shooting and that is partly blamed for the election defeat of the then president, Joyce Banda a year later.
However, during the long quest for justice, a suspect Karim Limumba bolted and died in South Africa before he could be arrested and extradited to face trial while another accused person, Maxwell Namata died in a road accident while on bail.
