A former cabinet minister who was serving a five-year sentence after being found guilty of abusing his position has been pardoned by Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera.
In 2020, Uladi Mussa received a six-year prison term for corruption related to the unauthorized issuance of passports.
According to Ken Zikhale Ng’oma, minister of homeland security, his release was a kindness gesture over the Easter season.
Between 1994 and 2019, Mr. Mussa served as a minister under four different presidents, and he is still a powerful politician in the nation.
He was involved in the passport scam when former President Joyce Banda was in office.
In 2019, the US government imposed a travel ban against him and his spouse over his role in the scandal.
Mr Mussa was released together with 199 other convicts, who “committed minor offenses and have demonstrated good behaviour during their stay in prison”.
They include a driver who was arrested and charged last year after refusing to give way to President Chakwera’s convoy.