Malawi Law Society backs probe on Bingu wa Mutharika wealth: Mota Engil implicated

Malawi Law Society has backed calls by Mzimba West MP Harry Mkandawire to probe how former president late Bingu wa Mutharika accumulated over  K61 billion in wealth which he stashed in offshore bank accounts when in 2004 he declared that he had only K250 million worth of assets.

Late Mutharika ruled Malawi from 2004 to 2012 when he suddenly died of heart attack at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe whilst attending to a guest.

President of the Malawi Law Society (MLS) John Suzi Banda said Malawians have a right to know if indeed their money was stolen by Mutharika.

“The MPs should deliberate on this issue but parliament has no skills to probe this complex matter probably the police and the [law enforcing egencies] can come in because they have the skills to investigate complex foreign bank accounts,” said Suzi Banda.

He said those in position of authority should know that their power derives from the people they rule therefore it was imperative for the Democratic Progressive Party to probe the matter.

The document, presented by Mkandawire to parliament on Thursday shows, among others, Mutharika was getting 10 per cent of all payment to international Portuguese contractors, Mota Engil on all contracts awarded by the government.

The document also  shows Mutharika had bank accounts in US, Taiwan, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Mota Engil around 2008 and 2009 paid for Mutharika’s full holiday in Portugal and the company constructed Mpumulo wa Bata and the former president’s Ndata home.

A report on Malawi Newsnow has details of how  Mota Engil made some periodic payments in 2010 and 2011 to the late president personally.

The report  says  Motal Engil made separate cheque payments to the late president wa Mutharika from as low as K1 million (about $4 000) to as high as K10 million (about $40 000) at a time.

According to Malawi Newsnow, a Lilongwe based private practice lawyer Gift Nankhuni has a dossier of some of the corruption deals allegedly made by incumbent president, a brother to the late president.

Justice ministers has rejected the document by the lawmaker as mere speculation.

Parliament nearly degenerated into chaos as Minister of Information, Communications Technology and Civic Education Patricia Kaliati, rising on a point of order, questioned the  former People’s Party (PP) administration  from 2012 to 2014 for not investigating the matter in the two years it was in power.

But PP spokesman Ken Msonda said PP government had hired government evaluator on Bingu’s wealth who assessed that Bingu had more than K61 billion wealth.

The DPP government sent law enforcers to search Chihana’s house and took away all documents but he had back-up elsewhere.