By Brian Okoth
Malawian former President Bakili Muluzi has been acquitted of corruption charges.
The High Court in southern Malawi city of Blantyre set Muluzi free after the prosecution submitted that it was not interested in pursuing the case anymore.
Malawi’s Director of Public Prosecutions, Masauko Chamkakala, wrote to the court on May 26, saying sustaining the case was becoming difficult.
The Government of Malawi, through the Minister of Information and Digitisation Moses Kunkuyu, said Muluzi, 80, was now a free man after his graft case was dropped.
Kunkuyu, who is also the spokesperson of the government, made the announcement on Monday.
Muluzi had been accused of diverting 1.7 billion Malawian Kwacha ($11 million) donation to his personal bank account when he was serving as president between 1994 and 2004.
The former head of state was first arrested in 2006 by the country’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) over the alleged offence.
Since then, the case has dragged in court, with little or no progress registered.
In 2021, a religious group called for the discontinuation of the case, saying it was draining public coffers, yet no progress was happening.
In 2020, the former Anti-Corruption Bureau of Malawi director, Reyneck Matemba, said the suit against the former president needed a “political solution because it was not prosecutable”.
