Mphwiyo implicates Kasambara, Manondo: Testifies at his shooting trial

Gun-shot survivor former budget director Paul Mphwiyo has implicated  former Justice Minister Ralph Kasambara  and businessman Pika Manondo  as among those  responsible for attempting to murder him.

Testifying as prosecution witness  in the trial a High Court in Lilongwe , Mphwiyo  who was shot as he drove into his Area 43 home in Lilongwe, said he saw Manondo who was to the left of the gunman and Kasambara to his right.

In a testimony before Justice Michael Mtambo that took for over an hour, Mphwiyo said:  “With the flood lights at the gate my Lordship, I couldn’t miss the faces of Mr Kasambara and Mr Manondo the people I have known for so long.

“I know how they look like, under stress and duress, I will still identify them,” he said while looking straight at Kasambara without blinking and Manondo who were seated in the accused dock.

When asked by the lead prosecutor Enock Chibwana how he could identify the two, Mphwiyo said: “My Lord, look at those two faces, who can miss them?”

Mphwiyo said he was shot at around 11pm when he had had a social chat at African and Lounge Clubs before going home.

The gun-shot survivor said he was however not drunk because he had only taken three bottles of Heinken beer.

“As I was at the gate waiting for my guard to open, I saw some people approaching my vehicle. There was one person who had a gun and wearing a hood. It was after I saw something like a spark and felt my jaw being numb. Then a second shot hit me the same spot, after the third that’s when I forced myself into the gate,” he said.

The court then moved to Mphwiyo’s residence at a scene where he was shot. He identified the person who pulled the trigger as Macdonald Kumwembe.

The shooting of Mphwiyo in September opened a Pandora box of the massive looting of public resources dubbed “cashgate.”

The 37-year-old former budget chief claims he was receiving phones threatening his life in connection with his tough public finance and economic management measures that that have closed pilfering loopholes at Capital Hill.

Kasambara has denied any wrong doing in the shooting of Mphwiyo. He was however arrested last month on a separate charge of money laundering and was released on bail. He also denies the charges.

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