Lawyer Mulemba arrested over Malawi cashgate probe
Law enforcing agencies on Monday arrested Yambani Mulemba, a lawyer by profession, who is linked to the money laundering charge of the country’s former Ministry of Finance budget director Paul Mphwiyo and his wife Thandi.
Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officers said said they want to quiz Mulemba on allegations that he collected US70, 000 dollars from Mphwiyo’s house immediately after he was shot, among other issues.
ACB deputy director general Reyneck Matemba confirmed the arrest.
“We arrested Mr Mulemba on charges bordering on facilitating money laundering in connection with one of the Cashgate suspects,” Matemba said.
During the recent court hearing, Mulemba also testified that he facilitated contact for gun-shot survivor Mphwiyo with Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) head of surgery Dr Carlos Valera, whom he performed a minor surgery before he referred him to South Africa for specialist treatment.
But lawyers Ralph Kasambara – also accused in the shooting of Mphwiyo – was more interested in an envelope which he claimed contained dollars that Mulemba fetched the day after the shooting.
But Mulemba said he gave the envelope a cursory glance to satisfy himself that it contained medication as Mphwiyo’s wife had asked him to do.
Kasambara said the envelope contained dollars which Mulemba was asked to collect from Mphwiyo’s vehicle, but Mulemba denied it.
Mphwiyo, whose shooting at the gate of his house in the country’s capital Lilongwe on the night of September 13 2013 exposed the plunder of public resources, was arrested for money laundering, theft and conspiracy to defeat the course of justice.
His wife was charged with theft and money laundering.
Apart from the arrest of Mphwiyo and his wife Thandi, the anti-graft body also arrested politician Hophmally Makande and Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) director of legal services and company secretary Ishmael Chioko.
The 2014 forensic audit report into Cashgate also mentioned Knights and Knights, a legal firm where Mulemba is a partner, as one of the law firms which allegedly received money from people named in Cashgate.
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That is why Malawi is the poorest country in the world because people are just too selfish, brainless. Most Lawyers in Malawi are thieves, there no Justice, they still money from their clients and backed up by so called Law Society. Palibe chabwino, Government ndii anthu onse okuba.
@ Lusaka Zambia comment 25, i mean analemela just after two years chimalizileni school. sikuti am talking za lero ayi. get me right. I know him and his mother too ku MHC zomba office . He is also my friend.
Yambani is my true friend.
We need sharia law in Malawi and thereafter behead ALL lawyers!!!
Yambani Mulemba is one of humble Lawyers in Lilongwe ndiye osamaonjezera nkhani kuti ikome,kodi inu mulibe anzanu omwe anamagidwapo?why are you trying to spoil others?Ngati simukudziwa zaYambani funsani ife ngakhale mukhoza kufunsa anthu amene amagwira naye ntchito,God is watching you anthu ajerasi,is this murder or money laundering?kodi nkhani ya 92 billion ili pati?nanga nkhani yachasowa ili pati?nanga yachanthunya ili pati?God is watching from the distance watch out.
I never thought that there are many haters like this out here. I bet most of you dont even kno a story about Yambani. an you say he finished school 2years ago! my foot! get your facts right. Who told you that he was even mentored by Ralph? hahahahah… koma anthu inu musandiseketsa…..
Knight @ 30
Musapake munthu wolakwa please. Yambani was Mphiwyo’s friend in LL where is it said that he was also Noel’s friend. Does working together mean anzanu ndiamodzi? Kufuna kuonongerana mbili chifukwa chama jealous basi…
No 21 Angoni. Tikuvomera Yambani ndi mzake wa Mphwiyo koma muzinena zoona chonde. Yambani anamaliza school two years ago are you sure? Inu nomwe mati Mayi ake angulira nyumba ku 47 inu nomwe ku 15 inu nomwe ku Chirimba kungofuna kukometsa nkhani koma muziziwa kuti ndi mwana wa nzanu. Waipa Yambani chifukwa wamangidwa ndiye muonjezere nkhani.? Yambani has always been a humble lawyer and kukhala mzake wa Mphiwyo si kulakwa. Kodi inu anxanu onse ndi abwino??????????????
Iwe Katakwe make wa Yambani zankhudza. Anthu adabwa kuti ali ndi chuma chambiri within a short time fiscal police igwirapo ntchito apa kkkkk
koma abale, ndikumanva chisoni kwambiri. Akazi ena mu Lilongwe anathamangitsa azimuna awo akuti ndi osauka powayerekeza ndi amuna ena ogwira ntchito m’boma kachizungu kake amvekere ‘I cant keep suffering in poverty, my husband is very irresponsible’. Pano ndikhulupilira awona tsopano kuti aja amanyengana nawo aja anali akuba ndalama, amapeza ma contract achinyengo m’bomamu. zachisoni lero akuchita bwino ndi aja anasiyana nawo aja.