Chakwera Grants Pardons To 2000 Convicts, Mlenga Mvula And Others

As part of this year’s celebrations marking 59 years of independence commemorated on July 6, President Lazarus MaCarthy Chakwera has granted pardons to over 2,000 prisoners.

On the list of those released, President Lazarus Chakwera has pardoned former Judiciary spokesperson Mlenga Mvula who has served seven months of his 30-month sentence on charges of corruptly soliciting about K10.7 million.

Speaking to the local media, Mvula said due to the remission law that reduces the prison sentence by one-third, he was supposed to serve 20 months.

During the Easter Holiday this year, Chakwera reduced sentences for all prisoners by six months and Mvula was one of the beneficiaries.

“And this time around it has pleased the head of state to release me out of the prison walls.

“I thank the President for considering me in a special manner. I missed my family and I missed friends. I am back in the fold,” Mvula said.

Mvula was arrested alongside Reverend Daniel Mhone in 2017 for corruptly soliciting money about K10.7 million from United Methodist Church between 2016 and 2017 in the name of High Court Judges and the Attorney General’s office.

On February 15, 2023, Judge Sylvester Kalembera sentenced the former Judiciary spokesperson to 30 months in jail while Reverend Mhone got a two year suspended sentence