By 
Former Foreign Affairs Minister Joseph Malanji and former Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba are scheduled to appear in court on September 15, 2025, to seek bail pending appeal following their recent corruption convictions.
Senior Resident Magistrate Ireen Wishimanga sentenced Malanji to four years’ imprisonment on each of seven counts of possessing assets suspected to be proceeds of crime, with the terms to run concurrently.
Yamba received a three-year sentence for authorising the transfer of funds to Zambia’s Mission in Turkey without following due procedures.
In addition to his prison term, Malanji was ordered to forfeit two helicopters, US$215,000 in cash, and three Lusaka properties to the State.
He was, however, acquitted on one charge involving the Gibson Royal Hotel, after the court found insufficient evidence that it was illegally acquired.
The two, through their lawyers, filed an application for bail pending appeal on Friday, with the hearing set for September 15.
Yamba’s conviction arose from his approval of K108,401,197 and K45,800,000 for real estate purchases without clearance from Parliament, the Attorney General, or the Zambia Public Procurement Authority.
Malanji, meanwhile, was accused of returning US$4.6 million from Turkey while serving as special envoy under the late President Edgar Lungu, a claim he denied.
The court noted that from December 2019, he made unexplained deposits ranging from US$49,900 to US$100,000 daily—sometimes multiple times per day—despite his companies being financially distressed.
Magistrate Wishimanga ruled that Yamba’s breach of the Appropriation Act and Malanji’s unexplained accumulation of wealth constituted strong circumstantial evidence of criminal conduct, warranting their convictions.
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