The Malawi High Court Judge Dorothy DeGabrielle has today sentenced business magnet, Thomson Mpinganjira to nine years imprisonment with hard labour. He was answering six charges under the Corrupt Practices Act relating to attempting to bribe High Court judges Mike Tembo and Healy Potani by enticing them with K100 million each so that they could favour Mutharika of DPP party in the 2019 presidential election case.
Passing the sentence, Judge DeGabriel stated that the offence that Mpinganjira committed was a felony and that it was an offence committed with the aim of derailing and defeating the course of justice. She has added that the seriousness of the crime, outweighs the submissions that were made in mitigation.
He was remanded to Chichiri prison following his conviction three weeks ago. One of Mpinganjira’s lawyers Patrice Nkhono has indicated that they want to pursue the matter further. Victor Chiwala who is one of the lawyers for the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has since expressed satisfaction with the sentence.