ACB drags ex Mzuzu City CEO to court over corruption
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has commenced prosecution of former Mzuzu City Council Chief Executive Officer Samson Moris Chirwa and former Acting Director of Finance Frayer Nkhoma with charges ranging from theft, forgery, office abuse and corrupt practices.
ACB Senior Public Relations Officer Egrita Ndala confirmed the development in a written response saying trial for the duo commenced on 4th November 2013 at the Mzuzu Senior Resident Magistrate Court and continues on 25th November, 2013.
Chirwa faces three counts of abuse of office contrary to Section 25B (1) of the Corrupt Practices Act and theft contrary to Section 278 of the Penal Code.
While his former purse keeper, Nkhoma has been charged with abuse of office contrary to Section 25B(1) of the Corrupt Practices Act, forgery contrary to Section 358 of the Penal Code and uttering a false document contrary to Section 360 of the Penal code.
According to Nyasa Times investigations ACB received written complaints in April 2007 over Chirwa’s allegations of rampant abuse of office.
But Chirwa claimed then that there were some people among the Council’s staff who hated him.
Sources said Chirwa is being probed for allegedly employing 11 of his relatives from Nkhata Bay district where he comes from.
“And he is also alleged to have diverted materials from some Malawi Social Action Fund (MASAF) projects to a house he is built in Mzuzu”, the source said.
The third complaint is that he is also alleged to have diverted some materials from a project the assembly won to rehabilitate the sewage system at Moyale Barracks in 2007.
According to the source, Chirwa allegedly took a chainsaw belonging to the Council to his private saw mill at Chikangawa in Mzimba district.
The Council procured the chainsaw valued at K 200,000 on August 19, 2007 for use by its workers in cutting trees.
But Chirwa requested the chainsaw on the same day it arrived from Lilongwe to cut trees at his Kaning’ina House.
He later reported that the Chainsaw had been stolen that day and that he had already informed the Police on the matter.
However, Mzuzu Police Station records indicate no case of theft of the chainsaw either on 19 August, 2007 or thereafter.
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