The Magistrate court in Lilongwe has released on bail Director of Energy, Cassius Chiwambo, who was arrested on Wednesday this week by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) over a charge of abuse of office.
Chiwambo, who has pleaded not guilty to the charge, has been ordered to pay a cash-bond of K250, 000 and produce two sureties bonded at a non-cash of K1 million each.
The court has also directed the suspect to surrender his travelling documents and report to ACB office once every fortnight.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Principal Public Relations Officer, Egrita Ndala, has confirmed.
Chiwambo`s arrest followed an allegation which among other things, alleged that the Ministry of Energy deliberately side-lined the Internal Procurement and Disposal Committee (IPDC) in procuring powerline construction materials for the Malawi Rural Electrification Programme (MAREP) Phase 9, referenced as MAREP-PH9-G-NCB-2020/2021FY-08.
According to Ndala, the Bureau conducted investigations into the allegation and established that Chiwambo abused his office by influencing the evaluation team to favour DECO, Ackon, KK Hardware, Gabs, Two Trees, Business Machines and West One, which were some of the bidders.
The count of abuse of office is contrary to Section 25 B (1) of the Corrupt Practices Act.
Hearing of the case has been adjourned to 8th March, 2022.
