BY BLAIR MHONE
Former Minister of Finance Joseph Mwanamvekha was today given solace by Chief Resident Magistrate Madalitso Chimwaza to have his charge sheet amended in the case he is answering charges of abuse of office for allegedly falsified Malawi foreign currency reserve records to the International Monetary Fund, IMF.
In the case, Mwanamvekha and former Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) Governor, Dalitso Kabambe, are suspected to have abused their offices by influencing officers at RBM to falsify records to the IMF in 2019.
The two are said to have allegedly provided wrong information to the IMF that Malawi Government was meeting conditions for the award of a $108 million Extended Credit Facility (ECF).
Mwanamvekha through his lawyer Kalekeni Kaphale filed two applications for the State to amend the charge sheet to include officers that were solicited by Mwanamvekha and the exact date the alleged crimes happened.
In her ruling, the Senior Chief Resident Magistrate sided with Mwanamvekha and ordered the state to include the particular officers involved and the exact date and time this happened.
Chimwaza has given the State 14 days to amend the charge sheet before adjourning the proceedings.
The case is going on at a time the Malawi Government under President Lazarus Chakwera, through Minister of Finance Sosten Gwengwe, is struggling to convince the International Monetary Fund to bail out the country in its current economic downturn.
