Police in Malawi has activated a massive manhunt for former Budget Director in the Ministry of Finance Paul Mphwiyo, a cashgate suspect, who is suspected to have skipped bail and fled the country.
National Police Spokesperson, Peter Kalaya confirmed the development in an interview with Nation Newspaper.
“Yes, we are hunting for him. We are aware that he is answering cashgate case and judgement is about to be known. So, we suspect him to be on the run,” said Kalaya as quoted by Nation Newspaper.
The disappearance is more connected to a decision last month (June) by the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal, which cleared the High Court of Malawi to proceed with its judgment in the nine-year K2.4 billion Cashgate case involving the former Ministry of Finance budget director and 17 others.
The judgment by a single Justice of Appeal, Lovemore Chikopa, dated June 9, 2023, dismissed an application by Mphwiyo and his co-accused for an order to stay proceedings of their case in the High Court.
Mphwiyo and his 18 co-accused persons wanted their criminal trial to start again because the new presiding High Court Judge, Ruth Chinangwa, had taken over the case, replacing Judge Esmie Chombo, who retired.
Cashgate is Malawi’s biggest corruption scandal by the sheer volume of government money that was stolen—estimated at over $100 million, and the melodrama surrounding how the scandal unravelled.
After government employees, businesses and politicians conspired to pay themselves public funds via mostly fictitious accounts, junior public officials were found with wads of cash stashed in cars and ceilings before the near-fatal shooting of Paul Mphwiyo shocked the nation.
Former Malawi Justice Minister Ralph Kasambara, his associate Pika Manondo and ex-military personnel Macdonald Kumwembe were later found guilty of participating in the conspiracy for the attempted murder.
Mphwiyo was initially heralded as a hero when the scandal first broke. It was widely believed that he was shot fighting the corrupt barons that plotted Cashgate.
However, the story took a dramatic turn when Mphwiyo was arrested on Cashgate-related charges.
Mphwiyo was described by one of the co-accused, Leonard Kalonga, as the Cashgate kingpin.
In May 2020, seven years after the Cashgate, Mphwiyo was found with a case to answer by the High Court.- ( Sources: Nation Newspaper & PIJ)
