By Linda Kwanjana
Convict Ralph Kasambara is said to be behind the false narrative that implicates senior government officials who he claims aided Paul Mphwiyo to jump bail and leave the country ahead of the High Court’s ruling on the infamous Cashgate scandal.
Kasambara and Mphwiyo come a long way and shared limelight in 2013 when they became main personalities in the Cashgate scandal and the whole hullabaloo that surrounded it.
Mphwiyo, who served as former Budget Director under then President Joyce Banda, was shot at his Area 43 residence in September 2013, opening a can of worms that led to arrests including that of lawyer Ralph Kasambara who was suspected to have led the plot to eliminate the younthful civil servant.
High Court judge Michael Mtambo in August 2016 sentenced Kasambara to 13 years for conspiracy to murder after the court had established that the lawyer played a huge part to have Mphwiyo shot with an intention to kill.
His co-accused, Pika Manondo and McDonald Kumwembe, were condemned to spend 26 years in jail for their role.
After seeking redress on his appeal conditions, Kasambara was given bail by the Supreme Court while he waits for ruling on his appeal. He remains a convict to this day.
It is against this background that Kasambara finds pleasure in sugarcoating the Mphwiyo escape with all sorts of fabrications to ensure that his nemesis is projected as evil in the eyes of the public.
Among the lies Kasambara started was that Mphwiyo had been aided by senior government officials to acquire another passport and use the Mwanza Border Post as his escape route.
Both Malawi Police Service and the Immigration Department have refuted claims that Mphwiyo was assisted by senior government officials to get a new passport.
The convict lawyer, Kasambara, may have a personal agenda against the man he wanted eliminated in 2013. But Malawians are only surprised why he is doing so using falsehood as his tool.
