A former Malawian minister has been convicted for illegally awarding passports to Rwandan refugees living in the southern African country, including fugitives linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Uladi Mussa, who served as Minister for Homeland Security, whose docket covered immigration, is accused of, among others, fraudulently awarding a passport to Rwandan genocide suspect Vincent Murekezi.

Murekezi was transferred to Rwanda last year and remains in custody.

He was convicted for separate offences committed in Malawi, and was transferred to Rwanda in January last year to complete his sentence, before he can be tried over Genocide crimes.

Murekezi was a wanted fugitive for decades, but had used his connections in government to avoid capture, including fraudulently acquiring a Malawian passport.

The former Malawian minister, who was arrested in 2017 over these charges but has since been out on bail, was convicted alongside the Regional Immigration Officer David Kwanjana.

Upon conviction, Judge Chifundo Kachale of the Lilongwe-based high court revoked their bail.

Court is due to sentence them next week.

Two other people, who were co-accused in the case, were acquitted.

Reacting to the verdict, Kamudoni Nyasulu who represented the Malawian state described the development as vindication of what they had been arguing in court.

"For those of you who were there at the beginning, we had indicated that this case was really based on incompetence. That we had people in office who didn’t know what their responsibilities were, and the court has just confirmed it,” added Nyasulu.

A statement released after the arrest of the former minister and his colleagues indicated that they were being charged with negligence of official duties and misuse of public office.

In 2017, the Malawi Magistrate Court convicted and sentenced Murekezi to 5 years imprisonment after he was convicted for corruption and tax evasion.

He was found guilty of evading taxes amounting to 2.2 million Malawi Kwacha of import duty through his company in 2007.

Murekezi was later extradited to Rwanda following a prisoner exchange agreement signed between Rwanda Correction Service and Malawi Prisons.

Though he had been convicted in absentia for Genocide by a Gacaca court, Murekezi has the right to seek retrial in the ordinary courts.

Besides Murekezi, prosecution in Rwanda last year said that at least a dozen indicted Genocide fugitives were believed to have found a safe haven in Malawi.