Mphwiyo hospitalised, Kauwa released on bail

Arrested former budget director Paul Mphwiyo is ill and is being watched by police at the hospital where he is being treated for heart problems.

Mphwiyo was arrested Friday by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), in a joint operation with the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA), together with businessperson Shiraz Ferreira and Nelson Johannes Kauwa of Thuso Group on charges bordering on tax evasion.

He was however taken ill on Saturday after complaining of heart problems.

Mphwiyo, whose shooting on 13 September 2013 led to the unravelling of the systematic looting of millions of government money dubbed ‘cashgate’, has been scheduled for a medical check up in South Africa but could not travel as he has been in and out of law enforcing agencies, facing various accusations.

Two bullets hit him in the mandible and another went through his shoulder to his chest. One bullet was removed in a South African hospital but two others – lodged in his spinal column – will remain inside the 38-year-old for the rest of his life.

MRA deputy director of corporate affairs Steve Kapoloma said Mphwiyo and the other suspects “will appear in court soon to answer criminal charges.”

The access to justice has been affected in Malawi with the strike by judiciary support staff.

MRA has since release Kauwa.

And a warrant of arrest for businessperson and cashgate chief suspect Oswald Lutepo had also been issued.

Lutepo is accused of evading tax of about K1.8 billion (about $3.6m) from 2011 to 2014. The alleged evasion relates to non-payment of value-added tax (VAT) and income tax.