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| National |
| Kambalame convicted of corruption |
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by
Mc Donald Chapalapata, 13 August 2004
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15:53:17
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The High Court in Blantyre on Friday ordered that former Petroleum Control Commission (PCC) general manager Dennis Kambalame be taken to prison until Monday when it will sentence him after hearing his mitigation..
The order came after the court found Kambalame guilty and convicted of corruptly receiving US$25,000 from a United Kingdom company.
But Judge Justice Frank Kapanda acquitted Kambalame on two other counts of corruption by a public officer and gratification.
Kambalame was on bail during the two years of the trial.
Lawyer Tamando Chokotho, standing in for Kalekeni Kaphale who defended Kambalame from the start of the trial, indicated in an interview after the judgement he would appeal against the judgement.
After the judgement, Kambalame, who looked composed and unmoved and had bandages on both his arms due to an attack by unknown people at his house almost a week ago, hugged his wife, his daughter Daisy and his son Dennis Junior and a few relatives before he was taken to prison.
Justice Kapanda said in his 58-page judgement that the state had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Kambalame corruptly received and accepted for himself gratification from Hamble Energy Limited amounting to US$ 25,000.
“This court finds the defendant Dennis Spax John Kambalame guilty of the offence of corrupt use of official powers by a public officer as provided for in Section 25 (1) of the Corrupt Practices Act. I accordingly convict you of the offence of corrupt use of official powers by a public officer as charged,” said Justice Kapanda.
Evidence tendered in court indicated that Hamble Energy was awarded a consultancy contract into strategic storage reserves for PCC and that Kambalame was part of the technical committee that assessed the tenders for the consultancy project.
The court heard during trial that it was Kambalame who put in motion the issue of the need to have a consultancy to look at feasibility of having strategic fuel reserve facility.
“There is uncontroverted evidence that he accepted and received the sum of US$25,000 from BLA Limited on behalf of Hamble Energy, the successful bidders of the consultancy he had proposed,” said Justice Kapanda.
But Kambalame contested in court that the money he got from Hamble Energy was not gratification but payment from an ad hoc consultancy between himself and Hamble Energy on the Nacala Corridor which never came to fruition and was terminated.
Justice Kapanda said Kambalame, as a public officer, should have recused himself from a technical committee which awarded the contract to Hamble Energy if he had an adhoc arrangement with the same Hamble Energy.
Said Kapanda : “In my judgement, it would defy common sense that Hamble Energy Limited should pay the defendant in consideration of an adhoc arrangement that never came to fruition. Further, it is inconceivable that the payments were made lawfully if seen in the light that the payments were done consistently and only when PCC paid Hamble Energy Limited.”
“Moreover, when you follow the that pattern emerges, the payments by PCC are almost invariably followed by a remittance to the defendants account within a very short period of time. Surely this pattern connotes that this money was being received corruptly.”
But Justice Kapanda said the state failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the other two counts where Kambalame was being accused of accepting gratification for himself amounting to US$1,138,131.24 from Europetrol Limited for awarding contracts for the supply of fuel and also receiving gratification amounting to US$ 166,183.60 from Mohammed Munaf Nadhi directors of Europetrol limited.
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