The Magistrate Court in Lilongwe has granted bail to former Finance Minister Joseph Mwanamvekha and for others, who are being accused of embezzling K447.5 billion at the Salima Sugar Company.
Granting the bail, Chief Resident Austin Banda said all the accused persons have right to bail in the court of law.
Four others accused alongside Mwanamvekha are Lloyd Muhara, the former secretary to the president; Cliff Chiunda, the ex-treasury secretary; and Collins Magalasi, the former CEO of the energy regulatory authority.
Three others, including a former Salima director, had already been detained last year, bringing the total number of suspects to nine. Authorities are still pursuing Greenbelt Initiative’s former acting CEO, Henry Njoloma, who remains at large.
The arrested officials served under ex-president Peter Mutharika’s Democratic Progressive Party from 2014 to 2020, before the party lost power to President Lazarus Chakwera.
