A Lusaka court on Thursday sentenced former foreign minister Joseph Malanji to four years in prison with hard labour after finding him guilty of corruption.
Malanji, who held office under ex-president Edgar Lungu between 2018 and 2021, was arrested in late 2021 over allegations that he diverted state funds to acquire properties, including two Bell 420 helicopters.
Magistrate Ireen Wishimanga, in her ruling, said she had considered pleas for leniency but stressed that the gravity of the offence demanded punishment. “I have heard the spirited mitigation by counsel and taken note that the convicts are first offenders and are entitled to leniency,” she said, before ordering that the 60-year-old serve four years with hard labour.
Malanji’s co-accused, former treasury secretary Fredson Yamba, received a three-year sentence.
Prosecutors alleged he authorised the transfer of more than $8 million to Zambia’s mission in Turkey without providing justification.
The case marks one of the first high-profile convictions of senior officials from Lungu’s administration since President Hakainde Hichilema came to power.
Hichilema has pledged to tackle graft, though critics argue that progress has been slow in a country where more than 64 percent of the population lives in poverty.
It was not immediately clear whether Malanji and Yamba would appeal the ruling.