Malawi CSOs demand Mphwiyo be charged with perjury
The Grand Coalition, a team of civil society organizations demanding good governance from the current government has demanded gun-shot survivors, former budget director Paul Mphwiyo be charged with perjury, arguing that he lied on withheld information under oath.
This comes after Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) contradicted some of the testimony Mphwiyo gave when he appeared before Public Accounts Committee of Parliament in the on-going cashgate inquiry.
MRA Commissioner General John Bizwick told the committee that Mphwiyo was less than honest when he claimed he wrote tax body to investigate 15 companies that were claiming payments from government . According to Mphwiyo, he wrote MRA before he was shot on September 13.
The CSO Grand Coalition demanded that Mpwiyo be charged with perjury for lying under oath at the PAC meeting.
The Grand Coalition demanded that “Mphwiyo be investigated to establish his real involvement in the cash gate because what he has said so far has some loose ends,” reads the statement from the coalition released and made available to Nyasa Times.
The coalition said it is deplorable to learn that Mphwiyo “ lied to or withheld information “ from the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament that he personally initiated the process of hunting down non tax complying companies that get paid by Government by writing MRA, when actually it was MRA that wrote .
They also queried Mphwiyo and that he declared his assets with Anti-Corruption Bureau but did not disclose under what conditions he did that because ACB under normal circumstances is not the first point of call for asset declaration unless the person in question is under investigation.
“Was Mr. Mphwiyo being investigated by the ACB? What was this investigation about?” questions the Grand Coalition.
The CSO argue that the cash gate has and continues to seriously affect social service delivery like in health, education, food security and many more sectors making the majority poor population the most vulnerable and yet it is being handled with kids gloves.
“To add salt to injury, most Civil Servants and their families and dependants are sleeping on empty stomachs as Civil Servants have not been paid their November and December salaries. This is one of the critical drawbacks to public service delivery.
“In this regard, the Grand Coalition demands speedy payment of Civil Servants salaries for November and December 2013. In this cause, the Grand Coalition pledges its continued support and solidarity to Civil Servants whose predicament is ever perennial and much worse in this cash gate era. This solidarity is offered considering that Civil Servants Trade Union (CSTU) is a member of MCTU that is an affiliate of the Grand Coalition,” reads the statement.
The coalition urged all Malawians and residents of good will to continue being vigilant, through the Black Monday, against a Government which is largely and purportedly based on lies and irresponsibility.
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