Charles Mchacha, others plead not guilty
Former Minister of Irrigation and Water Development Charles Mchacha, Principal Secretary Henrie Njoloma and former acting CEO for Lilongwe Water Board, Moses Mwenye have pleaded not guilty to charges of abuse of office, theft and money laundering involving K539,000 public money which was allegedly used to pay for honeymoon for Mchacha at Ryalls Hotel in Blantyre.
The trio was arrested on Thursday following investigations instituted by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
The bureau said in a statement that it received a complaint alleging that Lilongwe Water Board paid for Mchacha’s honeymoon.
It is alleged that Mchacha, who is Member of Parliament for Thyolo West, abused his office by directing Njoloma to facilitate access to lodging services and foodstuffs for his advantage and for the advantage of others at Ryalls Hotel in Blantyre, using Government of Malawi funds for personal gain under the pretext of lobbying for adjustment of water tariffs.
Chief Resident Magistrate Patrick Chirwa yesterday granted bail to the three on condition that they each produce K500, 000 cash as bail bond.
“I order you to produce one surety each bonded at K1,000,000 not cash and to surrender travel documents to the Court any variations to the bail conditions to be heard inter Party” Chirwa said.
The court has ordered Mchacha to be reporting at ACB offices in Blantyre and those from Lilongwe should be reporting at ACB offices in Lilongwe once every fortnight on Fridays.
Lawyer for Mchacha, Oscar Taulo said he was happy that the three are out on bail.
“I am happy that our clients are out on bail, we will wait for September 1 when we are going to have scheduled conference,” Taulo said.
