Malawi CSOs to hold anti-govt demo over Chaponda: ‘Mutharika needs to grab his lifeline’

A nationwide peaceful demonstration will be held to force President Peter Mutharika to dismiss Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development George Thapatula Chaponda who is officially under probe by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) on corruption and abuse of office.

Gift Trapence (right) : Malawians will hold demo against impunity

Chaponda is implicated in the Zambia maize procurement saga.

A commission of inquiry which was headed by former chief justice Anastasia Msosa that was appointed by President Mutharika recommended that Chaponda be investigated by ACB.

Similarly, a joint parliamentary committee which also carried its investigations recommended that Chaponda should be probed.

There have been calls from CSOs, Malawi Law Society and other voices of reason that Chaponda should resign. He has flatly refused that he cannot step down.

The President has been asked to sack him but he has not heeded the call.

One of the organisers of the demonstration, Gift Trapence, the executive director of the Centre for Development of People (Cedep) said failure by President Mutharika to fire Chaponda is an indication that he wants some closest allies to be “above the law.”

Trapence accused Mutharika of shielding Chaponda and other corrupt fat cats in his government “to make sure they are above the law”.

“This is not what the President committed o do when he was being sworn in

“So for us the next step is for Malawians to demand the President to take action. We cannot live with this impunity,” said Trapence.

Meanwhile, a national daily newspaper has said in its editorial comment that concerned Malawians have every right to demonstrate against impunity, corrupt tendencies and detestable sluggishness in governance agencies.

“The seemingly endless foot-dragging in the face of calla for Chaponda to step down and pave way for further investigation into ‘corrupt practices’ cited by Mutharika’s commission of inquiry does not speak well of the President’s war on fraud and the national quest for integrity,” reads an editorial by The Nation.

It said the finding of the commission of inquiry and Parliament have left Chaponda “too compromised” to be an effective leader both in the National Assembly and Cabinet.

“The looming protests could be a wake-up call and a belated chance for the President to demonstrate that he has a spine to ensure no member of his inner circle is above the law,” the paper stated.

It continued: “Mutharika needs to grab his lifeline set the tone for his fight against fraud and silence his doubters who perceive him as inadvertently unresponsive or deliberately toothless.”

Chaponda is presume innocent until proven guilty by a competent court of law, but the paper pointed out that  while presumption of innocence is the hall mark of  rule of law, the President  “must put cronyism aside and use his discretion” to save the country from the cusp of chaos.

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Wanga ndi yemweyo
Wanga ndi yemweyo
7 years ago

Bwana APM, read the sign on the wall while you still have the eyes to do it, and then act according to how you interpret it. 2019 Si kaletu. We have only one year between now and that time. Campaign period is almost here. During the next campaign, mudzawauza chiyani aMalawi pa nkhani ya governance and corruption? Act decisively now or don’t contest at again in 2019. Remember, “one of the true marks of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes a crisis”. Whether Chaponda is guilty or innocent doesn’t matter at this stage. Zikafika pomwe… Read more »

Ndaseka
Ndaseka
7 years ago

Picture for story says Trapence (right) nanga mtumbuka ali ku left yo bwanji simukumutchula dzina. Mukufuna mubisale kumbuyo kwa trapence basi. Trapence atumbuka akugwiritsa ntchito kenaka akutaya ngati condom, watch out. Uwafunse mai Joice Banda.

Banda
Banda
7 years ago

The report is only advisory.
It is the prerogative of the president to Act in it or not.

Zipatso
Zipatso
7 years ago

In Nyasaland anything happens…could the learned Minister fire the Ministry HQs to destroy evidence of fraud and corruption? God is watching….or could enemies of the Minister fire the Ministry HQs to finish the minister politically?God is watching

maxy wa dpp
7 years ago

peter muntharika z involved in this game dats y z quite, akuziwa kt chaponda amuwurura

Boring
Boring
7 years ago

Trapence is being used. Aini ake a demomstration iyi ndi Atumbuka. Kapangireni kwanu ku Thengere ndi ku Bwengu demo imeneyi. Mwatopetsa Atumbuka

The Analyst
The Analyst
7 years ago

O……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….O The fact that human beings know right from wrong, makes them more superior to other animals. But the fact that they (human beings) still choose to do wrong, makes them worse than other animals. Nanga inu . . . . . . Why does APM choose to do wrong by clinging on to Chaponda? . . . Does APM have to wait for people to demonstrate, businesses to come to a standstill, shops to be looted, people robbed, and lives lost; for him to act on Chaponda? . . . How many people (including his own Commission of Inquiry)… Read more »

wakuphili
wakuphili
7 years ago

muzikayenda ndi akazi anu.

zuzo dekha
zuzo dekha
7 years ago

wakhala pa mkhate khoshwe

Mbwenumbwenu
Mbwenumbwenu
7 years ago

But you SCOs you went to court so that Chaponda should not carry out duties as minister.You WERE THE SAME GUYS who said that the courts are independent.The same court had ruled out that Chaponda should continue as minister.Are you defying the rule of laws yourself? Are you above the court ? All your voice is powerful than the court?Be exemplary uphold the rule of law,A person is guilty if proven by the court.

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