Africa-Press – Malawi. The country’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) plans to appeal the two year suspended sentence the Lilongwe Principal Resident Magistrate Court gave to former National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) deputy Chief Executive Officer Gerald Viola.
Principal Resident Magistrate Viva Nyimba handed the sentence on Monday, February 27, 2023. This follows the conviction the court ruled on Viola last week Monday in connection with a MK3.3 billion NFRA maize scandal.
The court found Viola guilty on first charge of misuse of office while his co-convict, businessperson Chrispin Chingola, was found guilty on the count of influencing a public officer to misuse a public office. In brief statement made available to The Maravi Post while welcoming the sentencing, ACB seems not satisfied hence an appeal against the verdict.
“On 27th February 2023 the Principal Resident Magistrate Court in Lilongwe sentenced Mr Gerald Viola and Mr Chrispin Chingola to three years imprisonment. The Court has suspended the sentence for two years. Mr Viola was convicted of abuse of office contrary to Section 258 (1) of the Corrupt Practices Act. Mr Chingola was convicted for influencing a public officer to misuse a public office contrary to Section 25 B (2) of the Corrupt Practices Act.
“The Bureau will appeal against the sentence,” reads ACB statement signed by its Principal Public Relations Officer Egrita Ndala.
This comes after general public expressed unsatisfied with also the sentencing of Viola and Chingola regarding the gravel of the matter in fighting against corruption in the country.
In October 2020, ACB arrested Viola and Chingola for unilaterally issuing to Missies Trading a Local Purchasing Order (LPO) number 6750 to supply 10 000 metric tones of maize to NFRA worth MK3.3 billion for the business interest of Chingola of the said Missies Trading Company. Viola is the former press officer of Peter Mutharika during Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) era.
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