By Chisomo Phiri
The High Court’s Financial Crimes Division has rejected a request by former Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) Governor Dalitso Kabambe to permanently halt his trial.
In an interview with 247 Malawi News,Kabambe, who faces charges of conspiracy, making false statements, and money laundering alongside Henry Mathanga, Cliff Kenneth Chiunda, and Joseph Mwanamvekha, argued that he was immune from prosecution for actions taken in good faith during his tenure as Governor and Chairperson of the RBM Board from 2017 to 2020.
Citing Section 15 of RBM Act and Paragraph 4 of the institution’s Code of Conduct, Kabambe claimed he could not be held personally liable unless proven to have acted in bad faith.
He stated that the Treasury Note transaction in question, worth USD 350 million and involving Afreximbank, was approved by the RBM Board to restructure government debt and reduce interest payments.
However, the court found Kabambe’s claimed immunity insufficient to warrant halting the proceedings at this stage.
Kabambe has had some success in court recently, with the High Court discharging him from an abuse of office charge related to misreporting government figures to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) between 2018 and 2020.
