A magistrate’s court in the Malawian capital Lilongwe has sent a corruption case involving the country’s Vice-President Saulos Chilima to the High Court.
Mr Chilima is accused of receiving $280,000 (£230,000) and other unnamed items from a British businessman by the Malawi Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB). He denies all six counts of wrongdoing.
Mr Chilima was arrested last November and was granted court bail.
At the time, the graft-busting body had said owing to its complexities it wanted the case moved from the lower court to the Financial Crimes Unit of the Malawi High Court.
Chief Resident Magistrate Madalitso Khoswe Chimwaza has today granted the ACB’s wish and has committed the case to the High Court where it will be heard in the Financial and Economic Crimes Division.
Mr Chilima is serving his second term as Malawi’s vice-president having previously held the position during the reign of former president, Peter Mutharika, with whom he fell out.
He was re-elected to the position in 2020 as the running mate of President Lazarus Chakwera with whom he went into an electoral alliance which defeated Mutharika.
Ironically, the two campaigned on a platform of “clearing the rubble of corruption”.
Under Malawi law, the president has no power to fire his deputy, but when allegations against Mr Chilima were first made, President Chakwera publicly announced he would stop delegating any official duties to his deputy.
In recent times however, the two are regularly seen together at public events.
Source: BBC