Burglary worsens at Malawi govt office complex: Robbers hit National Audit Office

Cases of burglary coupled with two months blackout have worsened at the government office complex in Blantyre with the National Audit Office (NAO) being the latest victim.

According to NAO’s Senior Clerical Officer, Beau Dan Saka robbers broke into the Assistant Auditor General’s office on the night of Wednesday, August 3, and went away with a computer set adding that this was not the first time for the thieves to break into their offices.

“The issue of burglary taking place at our offices is not new despite having guards around the building 24/7, there have been a number of breakings recently where assorted office items were reported missing.

“At first they stole a switchboard set and a laptop which was recovered at the Blantyre Flea Market since our staff tipped some vendors about the stolen laptop. Of course all these cases were reported to police but still no arrests were made,” said Saka.

Saka said so far NAO has lost items worth over a million kwacha since the burglary started and it was becoming worrisome because though the matter was reported to the Housing and Lands department who are the custodians of the building, nothing is happening but the cases are still worsening.

“We proposed to them that they should change the security service since all these burglaries are happening whilst they are on guard but nothing of that sort is happening,” said Saka.

Blantyre Police Assistant Public Relations Officer, Andrew Mayawo indicated to have received reports on the burglary such that investigations are still underway but was quick to admit that no arrests have been made so far.

“We received reports about the theft from the National Audit Office two weeks ago and currently investigations are still going on.

Commenting on the frequent burglaries at the building and what they are doing, Mayawo said their duty is to provide security to all people in the country not a specific building.

The trend started in January when several break-ins in some departments during which computer accessories were reported missing.

In an earlier interview, Regional Housing Officer for Lands, Wyson Chirwa indicated that their office was in the process of reviewing the whole security status as one way of tightening security at the government office complex.

“We are in the process of reviewing security and the review will among other things involve contacting the police for advice and if deemed necessary, we may ask them to provide a 24 hr security cover for the complex,” indicated Chirwa.

However, the burglaries are still taking place despite the assurance.

Some of the offices which have been attacked by the thieves are the Judiciary registry, OVOP office which houses District Aids Coordinator (DAC), District Water Office (DWO) and the Blantyre District Assembly just to mention a few.

The office complex houses over ten government departments such as Information, Judiciary, Office of President and Cabinet, Trade, Tourism, Fiscal, Audit, Legal Aid, Administrator General and District Commissioner’s office among others.