Africa-Press – Malawi. It is very pathetic that corruption now has become a way of life. We have come to accept that corruption is part of life. No one feels angry when some people are dubiously amassing a lot of wealth.
Corruption is a deep-rooted vice. Gone are the days when a single person would be involved in corruption. Nowadays people have devised more colluded means of defrauding our government coffers by forming secret networks or syndicates.
During Kamuzu Banda’s reign, corruption was a bit restricted due to strict and punitive standards of Kamuzu Banda. However, corruption was being practised by a few elite.
Kamuzu Banda and all his ministers deliberately did not declare their assets. That was the genesis of corruption. Even now, Malawians are happy seeing our cabinet ministers and other government officials enjoying the benefit of not declaring their assets. We tolerate corruption ourselves.
For instance, in 1964 John Zenus Ungapake Tembo , fondly called JZU, became so powerful that he was appointed the chair of many statutory corporations besides being the minister of finance. This was a recipe for corruption. And indeed following a financial report, JZU was accused of misappropriating funds by cabinet ministers , some of them later were murdered in what was called Mwanza road accident.
By the time Kamuzu Banda relinquished power, he had amassed a lot of property and wealth. No one bothered to trace an allegation that Dr. Banda had accumulated over 20 million pounds in his bank accounts in other countries at the time of his demise. This money could have assisted to develop our country. Are we wondering why Malawi is still a poor nation?
Then came Dr. Bakili Muluzi’s era which perpetuated corruption too. No one bothered. As was the norm, there was no declaration of assets too. During Muluzi’s era, privatisation of some government agencies was a deliberate conduit to corruption. Many politicians acquired government property willy-nilly.
Rampant corruption during Muluzi’s era led to dwindling standards in all sectors. Free primary school education was poorly managed leading to low education standards. Sub-standard roads and buildings emerged. Inflation escalated. These vices of corruption were deliberately cushioned by the promotion of human rights and freedoms.
As nature has its own way of revealing the truth, Dr. Kalonga Stambuli, the economic advisor to Dr. Bakili Muluzi, spilt the beans on the secret corrupt financial deals of his master. He was later strangled and poisoned to death. Corruption is evil.
Dr. Bakili Muluzi is still answering charges of misappropriating funds to the tune of MK 1.8 billion for over a decade now. Interestingly, money spent on this case by the government is more than MK 1.8 billion. Another form of corruption? You have the answers.
From a humble beginning of a minibus driver to presidency, Bingu wa Mutharika mysteriously accumulated a lot of wealth. He erected a mansion in Thyolo worth over MK62 billion. As nature has its own means of resolving matters, Bingu wa Mutharika stayed in that great mansion barely for three months before he died. The mansion is lying idle. Can’t the government repossess this mansion and use it for the benefit of all citizens? Probably, it can be renovated to become a five star hotel.
It is also alleged that Bingu had multiple bank accounts and properties in many countries. At the time of his death, stashes of money packed in suitcases were found. The money he used to build his mansion could have assisted to develop our country. Are we wondering why Malawi is still a poor nation?
Fast forward to Joyce Banda era which signified the epitome of corruption in Malawi. Little did Malawians understand her when she used to say ‘kumatakata amalawi’ similar to Dr. Muluzi’s slogan dubbed ‘kumachenjera pa tauni’. Both slogans had a hidden meaning of promoting corruption even though realistically, they meant something else.
To cut a story short, it was during Joyce Banda’s regime that government officials were found with stashes of money in their car boots. Weeks later, Paul Mphwiyo survived gun shots masterminded by attempted murder convict, Ralph Kasambara. Corruption is evil. Oswald Lutepo, the People’s Party staunch supporter, was also implicated in the fracas and later convicted of the crime.
Here is a jigsaw puzzle. Soon after Paul Mphwiyo’s attempted murder, Dr. Joyce Banda publicly defended Oswald Lutepo and Paul Mphwiyo. However, Oswald Lutepo was convicted of fraud and it is taking ages now for Paul Mphwiyo’s case to be concluded as he is also answering charges of corruption. As this is not enough, during Tonse Alliance adminstration, Oswald Lutepo was released out of jail before serving his full sentence. And Tonse Alliance government is duping people that it is serious about fighting corruption.
Peter Mutharika’s regime was not spared with corrupt practices too. MK145 million was found in DPP’s bank account whose single signatory was Peter Mutharika. It was ironic that the money was paid back to the depositor after the public outcry.
Many DPP gurus became overnight millionaires, a practice which is being jealously emulated by Tonse Alliance government officials. Notable scandal was of Dr. George Chaponda, the then minister of Agriculture, who was also found with huge sums of money in his office while answering charges of maize mispronouncing from Zambia.
Currently, Norman Chisale, the former body guard of Peter Mutharika , is also answering various charges including money laundering and murder of Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) officer. I reiterate that corruption is evil.
During Chakwera’s regime, corruption has reached its peak. President Chakwera appears to promote corruption instead of fighting it. There are still ministers and government officials who haven’t declared their assets.
Some of his cabinet ministers and appointees are answering charges of corruption. As with DPP gurus, his advisors and ministers are busy competing with each other on how to defraud Government coffers. The irony is that the rampant corruption is being tolerated under the watch of Reverend Chakwera who vowed to fight the diabolical practice.
Chakwera’s government machinery also intercepted the ACB director’s private conservation which is against privacy ethics. Instead of condemning this unethical practice, Dr. Lazarus Chakwera threatened the ACB director by giving her a warning that she would be removed from her position if she dares to tell the public that President Chakwera is interfering with the operations of ACB again. Paradoxically, intercepting the ACB director’s private conversation is a proof that President Chakwera is interfering with ACB.
No one is siding with the ACB director now. However, her working environment is threatened. This means that Chakwera’s machinery continues to eavesdrop her private conversations looking for a reason to fire her. And yet the president pledged to make the ACB independent.
On the other side, the Director of Public Prosecution has not approved her submission to prosecute some corruption cases. On the other front, the Attorney General is pompous to say publicly that he is the boss to the ACB director. But the ACB director currently is mandated to report to the president.
Alas, the ACB director is in a tight corner surrounded by wolves of corruption. No wonder that we are hearing rumours that the ACB director failed to appear before the Public Appointments Parliamentary Committee because she is on a forced leave.
We are therefore requesting the public appointments parliamentary committee to resolve the conflict of interest of the President, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) and the Attorney General (AG) in the office of the director of ACB.
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