Another ‘cashgate’ at Information Ministry: Officer using Malawi govt equipment for personal gain
Millions of money that was supposedly to go into government coffers is going into the pocket of a senior official and his selected cohorts in a very systematic and coordinated manner in which the officer uses state Public Address System and personnel to milk the Ministry of Information of its much needed revenue, Nyasa Times has established.
Several sources within the Technical Section of the Information Ministry have revealed that the Acting Chief Audio Visual Officer Fletcher Ndawala has for several years been using government equipment mainly the PA system which he has been hiring out to private and government institutions.
The institutions hires the PA system when they have functions and instead of the revenue realised going to government Account Number One it goes into his personal pocket.
Investigations reveal that Ndawala has established a syndicate within the Technical Section which he uses for his ‘private business’. The sectioncomprise of government personnel and a Mr Kamudziaka who is a teacher at the reputed Bishop Mackenzie International School who acts as the owner of the equipment when in actual sense it belongs to government.
The Director of Information Gerald Viola admitted that he is aware of the issue because it was reported to his office by several staff members from the Regional Information Office (RIO) who felt shortchanged in the manner Ndawala was using government resources for his personal gain while ripping off the ministry which is grappling to run properly because of lack of enough funding from Treasury.
“I am aware of the issue that you are talking about because it was reported to me but I am yet to get to the bottom of it,” Viola told Nyasa Times in an interview.
“ Currently I am taking that issue very seriously but I haven’t yet contacted the officers involved to get their side of the story. At the moment I may say that I only got the information from our personnel who came to complain of the malpractice. I am told he hires out the equipment at exorbitant prices and remit very little to the ministry,” said Viola in an interview.
According to our source the Technical Section of the ministry is indexed as one of government departments which collects revenue for government whose proceeds is supposed to go to Account Number One, where all government revenue is kept which in turn is used for the services that government renders to its citizens.
“Over the years Technical Section has contributed considerable revenue to government amounting to millions which currently dwindled because of what this syndicate led by Ndawala is doing,” said the source.
Our source explained that the Technical Section has several kind of PA system which it hires out to the public namely Vehicle mounted equipment which is used for road shows, whistle stop tours, Indoor and Outdoor PA system which are used for indoor and outdoor functions.
Looking at the story,Gerald Viola found Ndawala still doing his cashgate stuff even during the wisest Directors you would mention, Ndawala is 34 years old at Information in the section,actually if we have a good Director ever,Gerald is one of them. I was with him at Thekerani MCDE and he passed MSCE better than us who were physically fit coz Gerald wrote exams in clutches. He got offered tertiary education at Polytechnic to study Managerial Studies but changed and studied Journalism while he taught as Primary and later Secondary teacher after he graduated at Blantyre Teachers College. He holds diplomas in Journalism, Agriculture,hold Bachelors degree in Journalism and Mass communication and currently he is studying for a Master of Arts- Journalism and Mass communication with Pentecostal Life University. Don’t be personal when attacking others,ask if you don’t know. He is quiet naturally, he also rose within ranks of MBC to Principal Presenter. He was Personal Assistant to Sidik Mia up until 2009. Some are just jealous in commenting about others. I was with him and I know him till now, oh I forgot, how was he on that high position at Galaxy FM?? Comment on the issue on the ground and not attacking innocent people like Gerald Viola. APM saw something in him to be a Director,leave him alone and work hard to be like him one day.
Kodi what did you expect from a Director, whose MSCE was fail at THEKERANI M.C.D.E in the year 1994. After that was vending mu Ndirande’mu. All of a sudden nkudzakhala Director? I was surprised. Democracy has yielded Zero Percent to Malawians! Nayenso is busy filling up his pockets ndiye mukuganiza kuti angatani ndi mnzake? Lets Watch and See.
Nyasatimes mukatha mudzafufuzenso kuno ku Balaka za cashgate ma office aboma anthu akuwononga ndalama sizinawoneke
At the ministry of trade HQ in Lilongwe a driver under OVOP who retired also took with him a Nissan 7 tonne truck to his village and is using it for personal gains. no one has ever made follow ups, koma as we speak its its with him. ask ma driver a ku trade akuwuzani a nyasa please go undercover
The multiparty politicians have DAMAGED civil service by appointing people anyhow. Unqualified, unsuitable people are appointed even without backgroun check on their character. someone are appointed to senior positions without working in the civil service more than five years. Not even going to Mpemba Staff Development Institute to learn government procedures. Kamuzu was strict on this that is why the civil service was ticking. Not the stupid state presidents we have had
Newstip: Nyasatimes, tafufuzani za Beans gate ndi MIT gate ku Macra.
Mjiba, No. 32, you are right this Director stinks of sleep and incompetence. He is unfit for the position. with such DISPOSITION this Administration has no hope to deliver on what Malawians expect of it i.e services and development. I was expecting to hear from this idiot of a director that Yes I have heard this story and have investigated it already and that either there is merit or not in the matter and this is the course of action that I have taken, not when I wake up from sleep I will investigate. Of late there is a call on the general public from Police to inform them what they know regarding cashgate. If this is how the police will handle the information from the public then, again, we can kiss goodbye to development in Malawi. Mr State President the buck stops with, LEAD PLEASE, let us hear from you some VISIONARY statement which we all can be guided by in the public, civic and private sector. and then walk the talk. The country is collapsing a President with KUBA ma taxes athu and you only want to increase taxes and not to safeguard what has already been collected!!!! What are you doing about the report that about 30-40% of Government Revenue is lost via theft, corruption or incompetence???!!! seal these and we have a healthy budget and indeed you will have LED Malawi.
@one thousand years; chimwemwe banda ndi wa ine ndisakumvenso apo tikhapana osapeza ena bwanji? monga uyu wa ku MCP, Seodi, Mary waya? ndikumveso ukuti fwefwefwfe ndichita nawe. chimwemwe banda is mine forever
It seems this thing is a virus it won’t stop raining unless other wise,Viola got that post because of Makiyolobasi thing this guy got hissing voice yo!.this issue is very cross cutting issue.It is up to our court to rule out and start a new chapter but if they take it personal it will be generation after generation.See my Name.
Awonenso mu ma regional offices awo, poor district officers are suffering while the Regional. Officers are enjoying with night allowances . Where is decentralization while this and other ministries are not yet devolved to councils? Bwana minister help your children.
Koma kumeneko
Come to Sports and see How Kamuzu Stadium Funds are embezzled through FAM
It seems to me that there are too many saints in the private sector. There is no cashgate there. I wish these “real audits” could extend to this sector. Tione ngati muli clean apusi inu!!! Who doesnt pay tax in this country kuti mudzichita kutumbwa chonchi? Everyone is cashgating in one way or another? How many are using office computers to do consultancies? Printing or photocopying notes/books for your own or relatives studies? Stealing papers from the office for personal use? Inflating fuel requirements for your trips so that your personal vehicles also benefit? Mudzisamala polankhula!!! Do some soul searching and assess whether you are not cashgating only that you havent been caught!!! Lastly, define what kind of “gate” you are involved in which ends up in cash!!!
Mhone and Chiuye on Galaxy radio with super Nkombezi expose these stupid Viola cohorts if at all you are serious.
aViola bodza. I am taking it seriously.
koma nthawi yonseyi osamufunsa wolakwayo?
akugawana
ma directors ogona tulo ngati awa boma likuwapanga pulomoti bwanji mpaka pa udindo umenewu????
Eeeeeh koma boma linathadi eti.nthawi imeneyo zonse zinkangoyenda bwino…tisinkhesinkhe abale anzanga..chilipo tikulakwitsa
This is not such a big deal when everyone is still cash gating at their own level in this rotten civil (self) service.
Haven’t you seen drivers using trucks, pick ups, SUVs on government fuel bill et al for personal gain, they unashamedly pick up passengers for a fee, carry bricks and sand for sale, remove spare parts to sell. Put together those little amounts then you will understand what I am talking about here.
They come to work as they please and leave at the earliest possible opportunity, and get paid for the whole day. When there is a funeral they close the offices, dubiously budget for the funeral and share the loot in return, and go home.
Office space is used for selling mandazi, mazira, kaunjika etc. Yet we the taxpayers continue to suffer remitting the stupid taxes for these ventures.
These are the small cashgate practices that go unnoticed (ignored) yet the impact on our economy or whatever is left of it is huge. Cashgate is so wide spread within the civil (self) service, that it will take gargantuan effort for anyone to rid our poor country of this cancer.
These mother f*&%$#s are just piggy backing on the hard working citizens. So much about reforms when all civil servants (masters?) do is yawn all day, play bawo, misuse meagre resources and get paid for it.
Honestly speaking it pisses me off. But who cares, I know no one else does. After all this is a failed state.
Tiye nazoni zimenezi.
And we hav a disc joker of one of these community radio stations as a Director of Information and u xpect him to take us smwhere! Damn Malawians! We ain’t for anything bring for this country!!!
It will never become the same gvt like the time of Bingu in 2004 /09 ,pano kuba basi ,,,,kodi mkamapanga chonchi okuthandiza aziganiza cian?fake gvt now !!!!!
Viola mawu ngati mkazi nkhope ngati phungu Joseph Nkasa
This is not a strange practice. Many Lomwe Directors are using Government resources and time for personal gain. The Director of the Marine Department- a Makhudzula drives a Government vehicle with Government fuel almost every Friday morning to Monkey Bay on the pretext of visiting the Marine Training College. The truth is that his wife resides in Monkey where he is running a shop and constructing a new shop building. He returns to Lilongwe on Mondays to be in the office on Tuesdays.
He uses the vehicle, a one tonne pick-up, to ferry construction materials from Lilongwe to Monkey Bay and within Monkey Bay. The vehicle is also used to ferry stock for his shop.
The Ministry Headquarters seems to be aware of this, but they either do not care, or are afraid of this guy.
ALL WORKERS IN THE GOVT ARE THIEVES. STARTING FROM THE HIGHEST PERSON TO THE LOWEST. TATOPA NANU.
Chimwemwe Banda I love you honey.
Ndatopa nanu inu anthu ogwira ntchito m’boma mwamva,matuvi anu!
From Galaxy to director general yet some civil servants are not promoted. Gerald viola kutokota kwa Ku galaxy kwapindula eti.
agalu inu mukulimbana Viola bwanji? read the article properly..
If government is serious it should investigate all ministries and district councils that’s only wen we will realise change in service delivery so that we can enjoy effective service
So the Director is aware but he was sleeping! What action did he take after being tipped? Why was he delaying to take action? He is surely part of it. Paja amawerenga maina a cashgate. Stupid Viola
What? This Viola knows the issue but he has done nothing? come on! What does it mean getting bottom of it, how long has he been at the top of the issue by the way?
So Cashgate in Government up to Bishop Mackenzie School Staff?????
We have been wondering about the life styles of some of these staff members. Then who has clean hands in Malawi? Search me!
Viola mbuli yotheratu mpakana u director? Anapita xul yake iti? Poti akusokerera pano zigamba zake. Kkkk kukwezana ma udindo chifukwa cha zipani. Is this the reform?
So this is the reform APM was talking about?…putting dunderheads like Viola as Directors!!!!! Shame on you Peter Nutharika…you are very shameful!!!
here we go again. why can’t malawians just be satisfied with what they have? we can’t all be millionaires anthuni.
in africa, we’re already the poorest, the drunkest, worst universities, lowest literacy rate, highest population density, most prostututes, highest aids infection rate, worst roads, filthiest “cities”, most malova…..do you see what corroption does to a nation?
HA THE DIRESTOR BEING AWARE OF THE MOVEMENTS, BUT NOTHING DONE !!!!!!!MAYO MALAWI. THAT IS NOT THE END, MORE TO COME SOON
Its a childish republic. Forget about getting out of the pangs of poverty.
A neighbor who also works for the ministry is telling me here that it not only Ndawala and his Lilongwe syndicate. He says even Technicians at Regional and District offices do not remit most of the money they make to Government. They have fake receipt books that they issue to clients instead of using government GRs. He says unfortunately clients do not care to demand GRs -perhaps the clients do not know that govt revenue collecting entities are required to issue GRs. The other loop hole is that there are no Accounts offices at Districts. THE TECHNICIANS ARE THE ONES WHO RECEIVE CASH FROM CLIENTS.
You mean in this day and age government departments are still using ball pen and GRs to record payment. Ma computer ndiye kuti mumachita nawo chiyani, Facebook ndi pornography?
Amalawi ndinu omvetsa chisoni. Tima cashier tonseto bwenzi tili connected to a central system and monitored in real time right from fininance ministry.
No body is serious there right from Peter down to directors.
Oh yes. And we have just modified the GR with some US dollar water marks. We are a pathetic nation deservedly one of the poorest nations.
Even ku Works Department they hire out podium for weddings, zinkhoswe and other social gatherings. But they issue ti ma receipt ngati ta pa hawker ku nsika wa Ndirande Tsoka kapena ku Mahatdware
Koma u Director waphweka.This guy akupanga degree pa pentecostal university kudumpha anthu a experience and qualified mpaka Director
with all the evidence you have why is this man is still walking instead of sitting in a police cell? report him to the police and put an end to the theft
Imformation , sikuja anthu akugwira ntchito ngati pa estate polamulidwa ndi bwana, kapena dona(mkazi wake.
tachotsani nyansi zomwe zili ku MBC TV ndi RADIO 1 and 2,anthu akulephera kugwira bwino ntchito, ndale zachuluka, muluza aulutsi ndi atolankhani ambiri ku ma radio station ena chifukwa cha nyansi ngati zimenezi.
Over my dead body. Gerald Viola director of information? Mxiiii
a Viola paja amawelenga maina a cashgate lero ndiwowo kuithyola chomodzimodzi
IS Viola a Director?
So the Director General knows of the “MATTER”….. so he is an INTERESTED PARTY!!!!!!!! Amangeni a galu awa! ..ma rubbish…….chupiti zanu,!
Its true the civil service needs reform. Otherwise their demand for higher perks is a mockery to Malawians.
Bring these people before my court and I shall grant them one thousand years imprisonment.
There is so much mess and government needs to be strong to lid of this mess. it is so much embeded in people.