Malawi forex crunch: Police shut down money bureau, Indian nabbed
Malawi security forces on Monday embarked on a campaign to close down foreign exchange bureau in the country following the continued scarcity of forex.
Armed-to-teeth police officers accompanied by Reserve Bank of Malawi officers shut down bureau in the capital Lilongwe including at the Kamuzu International Airport.
Nyasa Times understands that police were following orders by President Bingu wa Mutharika who recently accused unscrupulous business of causing forex shortage and vowed action against “enemies of the state.”
Reserve Bank of Malawi secretary Samuel Malitoni could not immediately comment.
President Mutharika last month said the forex crunch was being caused by the business community.
“These are enemies of the state. I will take action against you. This is dishonesty, I want you to know I am angry,” Mutharika said.
He claimed that “investors” collect local currency and turn it into US dollars and other currencies and “ship it back outside Malawi.”
“I know these things and the people who are doing this. These are enemies of the state,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lilongwe Police are keeping in custody another businessman of Asian origin for allegedly trading in foreign currency illegally and forging government documents.
The law enforcers arrested Pacific Hotels’ Projects Consultant Officer and shareholder Fahook Ahmed after a tip from some whistle blowers.
Central Region Police Publicist John Namalenga said police arrested the suspect in conjunction with the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) officials.
“We have been following the suspect after a tip from the public that he was dealing in foreign currency,” he said.
Upon searching his office, police say, the 35-year-old Indian national was found with US$30 205, 30 pounds and R40 and some forged government documents like the Temporary Employment Permit (TEP) issued by the Immigration Department.
in addition, the youthful business mogul was also reportedly found in possession of six passports for Pakistan nationals and upon questioning him he failed to give an account of the documents.
“All the documents were seized and investigations are still underway before we take the suspect to court,” he said.
Last month, President Bingu wa Mutharika declared that he would not allow a devaluation of the Malawi Kwacha because forex traders were deliberately hording the foreign currencies to influence the devaluation by creating an artificial shortage of the cash.
Immediately after his declaration Fiscal Police arrested nine forex dealers in Lilongwe alone and charged them with illegal possession of foreign currency contrary to Section 25 (a) of Exchange Control and Regulation Act. Four of them have since been convicted.
We shouldn’t start pointing fingers at amwenye as scapegoats for our economical down turn as if amwenye are not Malawians and leaving the real culprits(Bingu and his cohorts) blameless.
Historically most failed African states follow the same pattern of events.
Our African leaders are corrupt to the bone. When they siphone our monies into foreign banks and mismanage our economies and when the economies start crumbling, they always come up with excuses and blame a certain section of the population for the down turn.
Mugabe of Zimbabwe is a very good case study: He inherited a very vibrant economy at Zim’s idependence. Within 10 years of his economic mismanagement and corruption, the economy went tumbling to a halt. He had to come up with an excuse to convince his subjects he is not to blame. Like most corrupt dictators, he chose a soft target and zoomed on white commercial farmers, heaping all of the countries ills on them.
After diverting all the blame to the white farmers, his unsuspecting subjects went along with his cruasade of getting rid of white farmers….confiscating their farms and properties and dishing them out to his cohorts.
What remains of Zimbabwe today is hard and shameful to contemplate.
I hope someone out there will pump sense into Bingu’s demented medulla and bring him back to sanity in order to avoid the path of misery in quest of his “Final Solution”!!
Komanso Mwenye kumulekelera pamalo muzapeza atagulitsa dziko lanu.Muli chnagu chovuta kwabasi pa nkhani yandalama even mzungu samumvetsa mwenye the way he conducts his business transaction.The govt needs to be very serious on things like tax and revenue regulations.Amwenye ambiri they dodge ma tax,ndikungowanyemera anyamata anthu osavaivila katangale bringing their country to their knees…..Kadziko kochepa koma umphawi thothotho.Clean up the mess please and all the corrupt politicians should be locked up and the keys should be thrown into shire river..basi malawi izasinthilatu.