Lutepo implicated in Mphwiyo shooting plot – court affidavit
Businessperson Osward Lutepo, who was allegedly used as a conduit of stolen public funds, has been implicated to have had a hand in the plot to shoot budget director Paul Mphwiyo, according to a sworn affidavit in court of one suspect.
According to court documents, an affidavit sworn in by one suspect Charles Chalonda of Private Bag 67, Blantyre says: “In July 2013, I was approached by Macdonald Kumwembe in Blantyre to assist him in executing a plan to steal money from someone in Lilongwe.
“In August 2013 we hired a car and got our friend Robert Difuliya to drive us to Lilongwe. When we arrived in Lilongwe we met Oswald Lutepo at Bwandilo in Area 47, we got into Osward Lutepo’s motor vehicle, a red Nissan Pathfinder. Macdonald Kumwembe and Osward Lutepo started discussing what we were supposed to do.
“During the discussions, I discovered that what Osward Lutepo wanted us to do was for us to kill someone. Osward Lutepo gave us a photograph of the person we were supposed to kill and that person being Paul Mphwiyo.
An exhibit of the photograph of their meeting has been submitted to court.
Lutepo, according to the affidavit, gave K150, 000 to buy a gun that they would use in murder and K600, 000 as part payment. The agreement amount for the job was K6 million.
“The plan was to attack Paul Mphwiyo on his way back to his house.”
However, the suspect says they failed to attack Mphwiyo of the planned after getting K1 million from Lutepo because a police officer Chilinda had seen them sharing the money.
He also said after a week of the aborted job, he heard Mphwiyo had been shot but he was not involved and the gun he bought “was not used in the shooting.”
According to the affidavit, all the time the suspects met Lutepo, he was unaccompanied.
The affidavit was signed before a commissioner of oath, Mphatso Kachule.
Soon after Mphwiyo’s shooting government said he was targeted because of his fight against corruption and fraud, but other reports have revealed an existence of a syndicate that has been swindling government through illegal encashment of government cheques.
Other reports have indicated that the shooting was a result of a deal gone sour and linked the incident to senior government officials including ministers.
Mphwiyo was shot three times by unknown assailants a recently as he was entering his residence which is located in Area 43, Lilongwe.
Malawi Police Service said it has alerted International Police (Interpol) to issue warrant of arrests for Lutepo and another person, Pika Manondo.
Lutepo, told Nyasa Times last week that he travelled abroad on a business trip and that he is concluding, enabling him to return home.
Deputy Police Inspector General Nelson Bophani, who is also in charge of a special crime investigations committee, said Lutepo is wanted in connection with the alleged pilfering of government money while Manondo is a suspect in the shooting of Mphwiyo.
Eight of Malawi’s donors including the United Kingdom, the USA and the European Union community offered Malawi government assistance to help to thoroughly investigate all issues emerging following Mphwiyo’s shooting.