A magistrate’s court in Lilongwe, Malawi’s capital, has referred a corruption case involving the country’s Vice-President, Saulos Chilima, to the High Court.
The Malawi Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) has accused Mr Chilima of collecting $280,000 (£230,000) and other unspecified things from a British businessman. He denies all six allegations of wrongdoing.
Mr Chilima was detained in November of last year and was given court release.
The graft-busting body had stated at the time that due to the intricacies of the case, it wanted it transferred from the lower court to the Financial Crimes Unit of the Malawi High Court.
Chief Resident Magistrate Madalitso Khoswe Chimwaza granted the ACB’s request today and sent the case to the High Court for hearing in the Financial and Economic Crimes Division.
Mr Chilima is in his second tenure as Malawi’s vice president, having previously served under former President Peter Mutharika, with whom he had a falling out.
He was re-elected in 2020 as President Lazarus Chakwera’s running mate, with whom he formed an election alliance that beat Mutharika.
Surprisingly, the two ran on a platform of “clearing the rubble of corruption.”
According to Malawi law, the president has no authority to fire his deputy, but when charges against Mr Chilima initially surfaced, President Chakwera publicly stated that he would no longer delegate any official tasks to his deputy.
However, in recent years, the two have been frequently seen together at public occasions.
