No such thing as K92bn cashgate, Malawi Justice Minister tells Parley
Malawi’s Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister, Samuel Tembenu, on Friday told parliament that there is “no really such thing as K92 billion cashgate”; backing Auditor General (AG) Stephenson Kamphasa that it was merely an “audit query”.
The AG explained that the K92 billion Cashgate “ remains an audit query requiring further investigation in order to substantiate the transactions validity.”
As part of the Bingu wa Mutharika-era Cashgate, the National Audit Office (NAO) named 54 firms that received about K6.3 billion in suspicious payments from the Malawi Police Service (MPS).
Some of the notable transactions whose value for money NAO could not ascertain include 17 payments to an electrical firm amounting to K1.8 billion; nine payments to another company worth about K1.2 billion; two payments of K150 million to a security equipment supplier; six payments of K123 million to a pharmaceutical firm belonging to a well-known Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) sympathiser and financier.
An analysis of the company names shows that most of the firms appearing in the Mutharika-era audit report are also featuring in the Cashgate investigations conducted since September last year.
Presenting a ministerial statement on the Baker Tilly forensic audit final report, told parliament that “here was ample opportunity for the previous government to do something -on the K92 billion audit query – yet nothing was done.”
He said President Peter Mutharika directed after winning May 20 elections that the audit be completed and appointed a ministerial committee chaired by Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe.
The Justice Minister said the committee have had meeting and discussion with Auditor General and government encouraged NAO to engage private auditing firms.
“Treasury will make funds available to the Auditor General to complete the audit,” said Tembenu
He appealed to members of parliament to “refrain from politicising these issues and allow experts to do their work without unnecessary political pressure.”
Tembenu assured that government “will not interfere with that audit investigations.”
Malawi Parliament’s Budget and Finance Committee chairperson Alekeni Wodala Menyani when presented a report to Parliament on Tuesday September 30 on its review and analysis of the previous committee’s investigations into Cashgate, said after further scrutiny, the interim report found that the actual amount lost was K87 985 808 616.82 and not K92 billion.
Menyani further said that some departments were not audited during the exercise which was abandoned in the middle.
Among the ministries and departments that were not audited include Office of President and Cabinet, National Assembly, Office of Vice President, Ministry of Information, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Department of Human Resources and Development and Ministry of Transport and Public Works.
He said the committee has resolved to summon both the Accountant General and Chief Secretary to Government to get updates and progress reports on the actions taken against the culprits in the misappropriation.
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A Dpp ndinu okuba,even mukane koma tsikulina muzagwidwa,osakhala ngat JB bwanji,anachita kuvomeleza kut muulamuliro wake 13b inabedwa,nde inu mukubisa kut mupitilize kubako,shame on you.
A Dpp ndinu okuba,even mukane koma tsikulina muzagwidwa,osakhala ngat JB bwanji,anachita kuvomeleza kut muulamuliro wake 13b inabedwa,nde inu mukubisa kut mupitilize kubako,shame on you
Who are the Cash Gates and where do they come from? My dear friends Malawians. Cash Gators are the same people. They come from same root. They are people who has been in all three parties only change names of the party whenever someone forms his/her party for some reasons. They have been stealing from poor Malawians since 1994 when multiparty started. Maybe democracy is not good for Africans/Malawians. Look how it has made the nation poor. Freedom is not good for some people. If PP or JB go to jail then many will follow even the UDF, DDP, because… Read more »
Try visiting DPP meetings and tell me if you see a car less than 2million, and look at the status of the person owning such a car. It really sucks.
Tembenu, do you know the purpose of auditing? Mbuzi ngati inu needs to be audited and monitored too
Don’t spend MK50b on the commission to collect MK13b. Make sure culprits pay back the cash with interest. No prison sentence which will incur Malawi government more expenses.
advocate community service. For instance if Joyce is found guilty, she loses former president privileges, she pays back the money with interest and then she sweeps Sanjika Road 4 hours a day for 6 months. She travels on her own expenses.
Haha haha audit quarry 92 billion Abale sindinaoneko ine. Iwe tembeni 92 billion cashgate ilipo ngakhale mukane umboni ndi uyu bingu died with over 61 billion ndalama zi anazitenga kuti. He hehe chaka Chino mufa ndi cardiac Callista including u apm. And we shall vote for chakwera soon I can see that coming b4 2019 just watch
It is my informed opinion that DPP Govt does not possess moral ground to sanction audits and investigations on the cashgate of 2012 and and prior years and the recent 2013 one.
Can they provide where the forex went during their previous reign if not through cashgate conduit.
One should not shun the 92billion and pretend nothing went amiss. Audits are conducted and not limited to verifying figures of missing funds, assets or liabilities. The result of that looting was the economic meltdown the country has gone through since 2011.
Citizen
NO.51, Malawi’s source of forex is largely donor money followed by tobacco. Both of these werent there during Bingus era. So lack of forex had nothing to do with 92bn loss.
Akuluakulu, if we can’t write good English, its better we communicate in vernacular. It just shows that some of us had been to a school and not to school. For example, I can’t make head or tail of what Chekambewa @ comment # 3 was trying to potray. Enlighten me on this please, otherwise I am lost!!!!!
Well said Tembenu. If some of the names in the cashgate scam also featured in the 92 billion audit report, then we have good reason to have full fledged investigations so that if they stole more than what is revealed in the Baker Tilly report, Malawians must know the whole ttruth.
No matter what you may say, Malawians know that D.p. p. Is the master of cashgate. You will try your best but won’t succeed. In fact you will only expose what you are even more