Karonga First Grade Magistrate’s Court has sentenced three ward councillors to 12 months imprisonment but suspended the sentence to nine months.

The three are UTM party’s Kaporo Ward councillor Ngasalayumo Mwangonde, Chilanga ward councillor Steven Simsokwe of Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPPs) Rukuru ward councillor Smart Mwakayira.

According to Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) principal public relations officer Egrita Ndala, the bureau charged the three with three accounts of abuse of office, theft and fraud after thorough investigations.

First Grade Magistrate Julius Kalambo convicted the three on September 1, 2023, for fraudulently pocketing K2.4 million from Karonga Market vendors to illegally allocate them public land in 2019.