Lawyers Mulemba, Phoya face arrest in Malawi cashgate crackdown

Malawi’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) is on arrests galore in the ongoing cashgate scandal and next on line is lawyer Yambani Mulemba and former minister Henry Phoya, Nyasa Times understands.

ACB sources told Nyasa Times that Mulemba is linked to the money laundering charge of the country’s former Ministry of Finance budget director Paul Mphwiyo and his wife Thandi.

Mulemba is lawyer of Mphwiyo and ACB said they want to quiz him on allegations that he collected US70, 000 dollars from Mphwiyo’s house immediately after he was shot, among other issues.

ACB deputy director Reyneck Matemba said he could not disclose names of suspects yet to be arrested but confirmed there will be more arrests as they follow corruption and fraud trails laid bare by British forensic auditors Baker Tilly who went to the bottom of the scam, in which some politicians and public servants stole about K20 billion through questionable business or fraudulent means in recent years.

Phoya was implicated by Mphwiyo in court testimony that he was among some ministers who were pressurising him to approve payments to some companies, among them Glens Waterways and Deco/Terrastone which was claiming K9 billion.

Phoya served as minister in several portfolios during the Bingu wa Mutharika and Joyce Banda governments.

In court testimony, Mphwiyo mentioned lawyer Ralph Kasambara, through Pika Manondo, Kasambara’s friend Patrick Gadama popularly known as ‘Gada’ and former spokesperson of the People’s Party (PP) Hophmally Makande and others who were pushing for his signature to honour ‘bad’ payments.

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 on Saturday for money laundering, theft and conspiracy to defeat the course of justice.

His wife has been informally charged with theft and money laundering.

Apart from the arrest of Mphwiyo and his wife Thandi, the anti-graft body has so far also arrested Makande who handed himself over to ACB following a tip that there was a warrant for him and Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) director of legal services and company secretary Ishmael Chioko.