APM appoints new Malawi anti-corruption czar: Lucas Kondowe a financial expert

Malawi President Peter Mutharika has appointed First Merchant Bank (FMB) General Manager for Finance, Planning and Strategy, Lucas Kondowe, as the new anti corruption czar to lead the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

Chief Secretary to Government, George Mkondiwa, announced the appointment in a statement, saying Mutharika made the appointment on Wednesday October 8.

Mkondiwa said Kondowe is a “ qualified certified accountant”.

“He is also a certified public accountant (CPA)M, fraud examiner and financial forensic specialist,” said Mkondiwa.

Kondowe said he would not kowtow to political pressure and would be professional as possible.

He  said President Mutharika had assured him that there will be no interference from the administration.

Kondowe’s appointment is subject to the approval of the Public Appointment’s Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly.

Fast Facts

Kondowe is a Fellow of the Chartered Certified Accountant (FCCA), Certified Public Accountant (CPA) (USA and Malawi), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) (USA), Certified Financial Forensics specialist (CFF) (USA), and an MBA and a BBA (Hons) from the University of Stellenbosch in Cape Town, South Africa.

He has over 18 years of both local and international work experience having worked for Deloitte & Touche Southern Africa practice (Malawi), PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (USA) and Deloitte & Touche LLP (USA) as Senior Audit Manager predominantly specializing in audits and controls assurance for the financial services sector.

Kondowe also worked for the World Bank, in Washington DC as a Consultant for the Internal Audit Vice President’s Office.