Mutharika feels sorry for imprisonment of DPP’s Mzomera, Uladi for corruption

Immediate past president Peter Mutharika has said he is saddened with the conviction and imprisonment of two top officials of his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Uladi Mussa and Christopher Mzomera Ngwira.

Mutharika said this responding to a journalist question at a news conference he held at his retirement sprawling home in Mangochi  on Friday.

“It’s very sad what has happened,” said Mutharika in apparent reference to the custodial sentence  of DPP regional governor for the North, Mzomera Ngwira and vice-president for the centre , Uladi Mussa.

Mzomera was sentenced by  Mzimba Magistrate Court to prison where he would serve a four-year jail term, for corruption.

His sentence has been followed by  DPP presidential aspirant Uladi Mussa  who was convicted and jailed for five years  in the passport fraud case committed when he served as minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security in 2013.

Mutharika said he feels sad with the conviction.

“It is sad this is happening; they are both good people. I am wishing them well. We will pray for them until they come out [of prison],” Mutharika told reporters.

He added: ” I feel very sorry for them and their families.”

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa has warned President Lazarus Chakwera and his Tonse Alliance administration against applying selective justice in the fight against corruption where he says only members of the DPP are targeted.

Speaking in Parliament on Friday, Nankhumwa then dared Chakwera to take remedial action against the officers involved in the corruption scandal rather than just paying lip service.