Malawi jails former Tourism official for financial malpractices

Malawi has jailed its first senior official in the Cashgate affair, the worst financial scandal in the country's history.

A court in Lilongwe sentenced former tourism official, Treza Senzani, to three years' imprisonment in hard labour.

She pleaded guilty to stealing 150 thousand dollars of government money.

At least 70 people have been arrested over Cashgate after an audit revealed that about 30 million dollars had been skimmed from the government payment system.

Businessmen and politicians are alleged to have connived with civil servants to make payments for goods and services that were never delivered.

Western donor nations and agencies, which provide 40 percent of Malawi's budget, pulled the plug on vital aid worth about 150 million dollars in reaction to the scandal.

Allegations of the massive looting of government money became public following the shooting of the finance ministry's then budget director, Paul Mphwiyo in September 2013.

Source: BBC