ACB awaits more files on Malawi grand corruption
Officials from graft busting body, the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) say they are awaiting more files from the Auditor General before they start prosecution of the so called K577 billion cashgate case.
ACB director Kondowe said the remaining files include those that have the names of the seven cabinet ministers suspected to have been involved in the scam.
“We expect the files any time soon,” said Kondowe.
His comments come after a section of Malawians heaped blame on President Peter Mutharika for shielding the seven cabinet ministers who are suspected to have benefited from the K577 billion scam during the late president Bingu wa Mutharika era.
Bingu wa Mutharika, elder brother to the president, is said to have stashed K92 billion in offshore accounts. President Mutharika denies the allegations.
The shooting of former Ministry of Finance budget director Paul Mphwiyo outside the gate of his Area 43 residence in Lilongwe on September 13 2013 is widely believed to have led to revelations of Cashgate.
Former president Joyce Banda ordered an audit which British audit firm Baker Tilly undertook covering the period between April and September 2013. It established that K24 billion was siphoned from public coffers through dubious payments, inflated invoices and goods or services never rendered.
The summary of the forensic audit conducted by RSM Risk Assurance LLP of the UK covering 2009 to 2014 .
It says the K577 billion that is regularly quoted as unaccounted for is incorrect and has reduced the un-reconciled amount to K236 billion.
Says the report in its Executive Summary: “It is likely that the remaining unreconciled amount could be reduced further if additional analysis were to be taken.”
The audit reveals that K83.5 billion was paid to 44 of the businesses which were selected as part of the sample of 50 businesses which matched to the bank transactions.
The report says to date, 13 businesses and K17.08 billion have been subject to review and that of these 13 cases alone have allowed the audit to identify at least $19.6 million in possible savings and recoverable costs.
These are $14.2 million in overpayments for goods and services; one duplicate payment of $5.45 million which the report says should be subject to immediate recovery; and $29 166 overpayment on shipping to wrong locations.
Owing to Cashgate the country’s development partners withdrew their assistance until Malawi improved its public finance management.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :
The ACB continues to be a wonderful spectator in the game of grand theft of poor Malawians money. When are you going for once to be proactive and make your own investigations without waiting for someone to give you files while you are sitting on your arse and doing nothing but receiving tax payers money in form of allowances and salary for idleness?
The person doing the filing should be quick otherwise the chief of Aunt Corrupted Beauty has alot of things to do. Why is the lateness?
Lucas, you have an opportunity to make history and your name to be remembered in a positive way for standing up for poor Malawians or shielding the elite.The choice is yours.
Pangani changu please anthu akutipweteketsa awa. Munthu wakuba ma million akungodziyendera kunja kuno yet wa kuba nyama mu shop ali mundende.
It just took hours to arrest The Hyena in Nsanje. Why is this issue taking so long ?
Mr Kondowe, when you tell the nation that: “We expect the files any time soon,” how soon is “any time soon”!! Sincerely and to some of us your office seems not interested to pursue the alleged case and is using some “abstract” answers to communicate the same!! Shame on you and God have mercy!!
I doubt if Lucas works for Malawians or for somebody else. Its unfortunate that people who work for the government easily forget that the people are the real government, the real power not these delegated officials to make appointments. One day truth will be out and justice will flow like water. What has been happening at ACB reveals to us that the institution lack the credibility to work for us in curbing corruption.
I cant finish reading this.
How big each, are the files that they cannot be carried together the six.
30metric tons? 20metric tons???