A Zambian court has sentenced former foreign minister Joseph Malanji to four years in prison with hard labour after finding him guilty of corruption. The 60-year-old, who served under former president Edgar Lungu between 2018 and 2021, was arrested in late 2021 on allegations of using embezzled state funds to acquire luxury property, including two Bell 420 helicopters.
Magistrate Ireen Wishimanga ruled, “I have heard the spirited mitigation by counsel and taken note that the convicts are first offenders and are entitled to leniency.” Despite the appeal for a lighter sentence, she ordered Malanji to serve “four years imprisonment with hard labour.”
Who else was sentenced in the corruption case?
Alongside Malanji, former treasury secretary Fredson Yamba was sentenced to three years in prison. Prosecutors accused Yamba of facilitating the transfer of more than $8 million to Zambia’s mission in Turkey without justifying the expense. The court did not immediately confirm whether the two plan to appeal their convictions.
Why is this case significant in Zambia?
The ruling represents a rare victory for state prosecutors in a country ranked among the most corrupt globally, according to Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index. Malanji and Yamba became the first senior officials from Edgar Lungu’s administration to be convicted since President Hakainde Hichilema came to power.
Hichilema has repeatedly pledged to tackle graft, a central theme of his leadership. However, critics argue that progress has been slow despite widespread poverty in the copper-rich nation, where more than 64 percent of citizens live below the poverty line.
With two of Lungu’s former allies now behind bars, the pressure mounts on Zambia’s anti-corruption institutions to prove this case is more than an exception. Whether Malanji and Yamba appeal could determine how far-reaching the government’s anti-graft drive will go in practice.
By Lucky Anyanje