February 5 set as date for Kasambara – Mphwiyo shooting case

The High Court in Lilongwe has set February 5 as the day it will start hearing a case in which Former legal director for the ruling Peoples’ Party (PP), Ralph Kasambara, is accused of conspiring to murder ex-Budget Director in the Ministry of Finance, Paul Mphwiyo.

Mphwiyo was shot on September 13, 2013 by unknown assailants in what President Banda is on record to have said that was his drive against corruption.

It was from the shooting of Mphwiyo that the Cash-gate scandal which has dented the image of the Peoples’ Party (PP) and even that of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) started.

Kasambara, who was earlier charged with the attempted murder of the former official of the Finance ministry, is yet to take plea in the case.

At his very first court appearance, Kasambara indicated that he would want the state President, Joyce Banda, to be his witness alongside other Peoples’ Party leading figures.

President Banda has vowed to see to it that Kasambara rots in jail. Speaking without directly mentioning the Kasambara name, the President said that even if she is dragged into the case, she will emerge out clean and the culprit would rot in jail. She spoke at a National day of prayers event earlier this year.