Interdicted director of Energy in the Ministry of Energy Cassius Chiwambo has today pleaded not guilty to two counts of influencing a public officer to abuse his office and misuse of public office.

Chiwambo appeared before senior resident magistrate Florence Msekandiana in Lilongwe today.

Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB ) arrested Chiwambo in December last year for suspected corrupt practices in the procurement of supplies for the Malawi Rural Electrification Programme (Marep) Phase Nine Project.

Earlier defense lawyer Khumbo Soko objected to the charge sheet arguing it had anomalies to which the court agreed until it had to be amended.

The defense also observed that the State did not make full disclosures before commencement of the case as some documents had omissions.

The State has since been given 21 days to furnish the defense with the necessary documents including list of all bidders, minutes of procurement meetings and evaluation reports.

The case has since been adjourned to April 21 2022.

Source:NPL