By Burnett Munthali
High Court Judge Redson Kapindu has moved Vice President Saulos Chilima’s plea taken to Friday 10 May 2024 next week.
Chilima was today expected to take a plea and the court to give directions on his case.
But Chilima’s lawyer, Khumbo Soko said the court has moved the case to 10th May.
“This is just a communication from the court,” Soko says.
Chilima is answering charges of influencing the awarding of public contracts by allegedly demanding and accepting an unspecified amount of money from a United Kingdom based businessman, Zuneth Sattar.
In the case, Chilima is accused of having received an unspecified sum of money from United Kingdom-based businessperson Zunneth Sattar to allegedly influence public contracts in his favour.
In November 2022, The Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested the country’s Vice President Saulos Chilima over corruption allegations.
Chilima is accused of accepting money and other items in exchange for awarding government contracts, the ACB said in a statement.
Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima is out on bail after his arrest in connection with alleged kickbacks. It is the latest in a series of arrests of officials suspected of corruption.
Malawi’s Anti-Corruption Bureau says Chilima received payments amounting to $280,000 and other items from British businessman Zuneth Sattar in return for awarding Malawi Government contracts.
The bureau says Chilima received the kickbacks between March 2021 and October 2021 after awarding Malawi Defense Force and Malawi Police Service contracts to two companies connected to Sattar.
Chilima is facing six counts of corrupt practices by a public officer, profiting from government contracts, and failing to make a full report to officers of the bureau.
