A Malawian court on Monday sentenced the former general manager of the state-run petroleum commission to six years in prison over a $25 000 (about R160 000) bribe he took from a Britain-based company.
”I think a term of six years will be appropriate, taking into consideration that corruption retards economic development,” High Court Judge Frank Kapanda said as he handed down the sentence on 56-year-old Dennis Kambalame.
”If corruption is left to prosper, the country might suffer economically,” he told a packed courtroom.
The court last week found Kambalame ”guilty of the offence of corrupt use of official powers by a public officer” after he received $25 000 for awarding a consultancy contract to Hamble Energy company to build a fuel-reserve tank.
The sentence handed down to Kambalame marks the first high-profile corruption case won by the Anti-Corruption Bureau.
Corruption is endemic in Malawi and carries a maximum penalty of 12 years’ imprisonment without an option of fine.
Kambalame’s lawyer, Matando Chokhotho, said he will lodge an appeal against the sentence.
Kambalame was aquitted on two other charges: of allegedly accepting $1,3-million for awarding contracts to several international fuel firms and supposedly taking $166 183 from ”unknown persons”.
Former president Bakili Muluzi fired Kambalame on a recommendation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after he could not account for $14-million in unexplained losses in fuel imports.
The petroleum commission controlled fuel imports until the IMF pressured the government four years ago to liberalise the sector. — Sapa-AFP