Murekezi jailed for five years: Rwandan guity of corruption

Rwandan national Vincent Murekezi  has been jailed for five years on Monday after being he was convicted  of corruption  by the  Lilongwe Magistrate’s Court almost nine years after he was tried in absentia.

Murekezi’s co-accused Komani Nyasulu was already convicted and served his sentence.

The court heard that Murekezi was convicted of the offence of corrupt transaction by private body contrary to section 26 subsection 2 of the corrupt practices Act where it was alleged that he on or about the 30 of December 2007 in the city of Lilongwe corruptly gave  Nyasulu a clearing agent with Trade and Freight Connections K200 000 in order to facilitate evasion of import duty of approximately K2.2million which was payable to Malawi Government.

Principal Resident Magistrate Chilunga Chirwa said Murekezi deserved  custodial sentence.

“Having arrived at the decision that an immediate custody term is  deserved , the next issue is how long should the sentence be. Without a doubt he does not deserve a short sentence. This is not a matter where he pleaded  guilty. It is my honest belief that the offender herein deserves more than 4 years as the advantage offered in instant case was higher and it resulted in the loss of a lot of money in revenue.

“It is my view that he deserves 5 years imprisonment with hard labour to run from the day he was convicted by this court namely the 2 February, 2017,” said the Magistrate.

Murekezi’s lawyer Gift Katundu said  the Rwandan has already instructed him to appeal the sentence, saying it is “harsh”.

“My client has already advised me to appeal the sentence,” Katundu told Nyasa Times.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested Murekezi in December last year after noting that he was a wanted person in a corruption case dating back to 2008.

Meanwhile, Murekezi is also  facing possible extradition after fleeing his country before his conviction of genocide charges.

Malawi and Rwanda recently signed extradition treaty.