The first convict in the plundering of public funds at Capitol Hill dubbed cashgate by the media, Triza Namathanga Senzani who was sentenced to three years imprisonment on Tuesday, is planning to appear against the sentence.

Lawyer to Senzani, Necton Mhura disclosed yesterday after the ruling, arguing that the court should have handed a suspended sentence to his client because she had pleaded guilty and therefore did not waste time for the court.

Senzani, former Principle Secretary for the Ministry of Tourism pleaded guilty of money laundering and theft of public funds amounting to over 60 million Kwacha.

She was the first suspect to confess guilt in the thefts, a factor that Judge Ivy Kamanga considered during sentencing.

But Mr. Mhura told reporters in Lilongwe after the sentencing that he will consider appealing against the ruling as he believes the sentence should have been lenient because Mrs Senzani is a first offender and that charges placed against her were not ‘severe’.

Cashgate scandal which came to light after unknown thugs shot former budget director Paul Mphwiyo in September last year is the first of its kind in the Malawi history.