Malawi urged to speed up cashgate assets recovery drive
A strong call has gone out to Malawi government authorities to establish a Cashgate Assets Recovery Program (CARP) which would speed up the recovery process of all assets deemed to be acquired through Cashgate scandal.
A social commentator Mabvuto Bamusi made the call Sunday during the Sunday Roundtable program on the privately owned Capital Radio which was soliciting views from both the panellists and the general public on measures the government would take to recover money lost during the public finance looting at Capital Hill, the seat of Malawi government.
Bamusi said the finance management act clearly talks of the committing all public resources to Malawians.
“In this case it would be prudent for the government to ensure that it has reclaimed all the assets acquired through public money people stole from government coffers and also should freeze all the bank accounts with money stolen through cashgate,” he suggested.
For example, Bamusi recommended that assets like the confiscated buses which are believed to have been bought for the ruling People’s Party to be used during 2014 campaign period , should be given to government schools, colleges or health facilities that are in need of them.
“Or we should convert them into money which will be used in various development projects,” he said.
Bamusi also suggested that the recovered assets like houses should be turned into teacher’ or nurses’ houses or hostels and those luxurious ones should be sold off.
He said there is need for speedy process in confiscation of the property otherwise government will lose most of the assets as reports are rife that beneficiaries of the stolen money are now busy changing ownership of such assets.
Contributors to the programs in which Bamusi was the only panellist and co-hosted by Capital Radio’s Chief Reporter Timothy Kateta and Elvis Howa-howa concurred with Bamusi and urged the government to speed up the stolen money recovery effort.
President Joyce Banda told a political rally on Saturday in Lilongwe that more than 68 arrests have so far been affected with 33 bank accounts been frozen and various properties acquired dubiously seized.
