Former Malawi cabinet minister sent to jail for corruption

The high court in Malawi Thursday sentenced former Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security, Uladi Basikolo Mussa, to a 5-year jail term for abuse of office and another one year for neglect of office.

On Oct. 13, the court convicted the former minister, and senior immigration officer, David Kwanjana, for fraudulently aiding foreigners to access Malawi passports and citizenship. 

The two committed the crime in 2013 when Mussa was serving as cabinet minister.

The case has dragged on since 2015 when it was reported to the country's graft-busting body, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), which effected arrests on the two in March 2017.

In October 2019 Mussa and Kwanjana were found with cases to answer leading to their conviction on October 13, 2020. Thursday, High Court Judge, Chifundo Kachale, sitting in Malawi capital, Lilongwe, slapped Mussa and Kwanjana with the two sentences which are to run concurrently, meaning they will stay in jail for 5 years.