{A Malawi court Tuesday ordered a senior government official jailed for three years, in the first sentence to be handed down in the so-called Cashgate scandal that led to the suspension of foreign aid to the country.}<\/p>\n
Treza Namathanga Senzani, the former principal secretary in the tourism ministry, pleaded guilty to stealing $150,000 from state coffers, and was condemned to three years behind bars for money laundering and theft.<\/p>\n
“Despite being a first offender, she does not deserve a suspended sentence,” ruled judge Ivy Kamanga.<\/p>\n
The judge also ordered that the funds she pilfered be forfeited to government. The cash was part of a broader swindle worth at least $30 million.<\/p>\n
The scandal prompted foreign donors — who provide around 40 percent of Malawi’s budget — to pull the plug on aid of around $150 million (118 million euros).<\/p>\n
The Cashgate scheme is the biggest financial scandal in Malawi’s history, and helped push former president Joyce Banda out of power during elections in May.<\/p>\n
The judge said that as a principal secretary, Senzani “was a custodian of money and willingly stole government money.”<\/p>\n
“It was an illegal act that had an impact on the economy.”<\/p>\n
Senzani, 50, who looked composed after the two-hour long sentence ruling, was arrested last year after a probe found she issued two government cheques to her own company even though it did not provide any goods or services to the state.<\/p>\n
She is one of the dozens of civil servants charged with theft and money laundering.<\/p>\n
Defence lawyer Nector Mhura plans to appeal the sentence.<\/p>\n
-Sapa-AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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