Consolidated account linked to Malawi cash gate scandal: Reserve Bank, State House officials involved
Reports emanating from Lilongwe indicate that officials from the State House and the Reserve Bank of Malawi are involved in the looting of public resources at Capital Hill as the plundered funds were filtered from the government’s Account Number One, also known as consolidated account.
On-going investigations into how billions of kwachas were looted from public confers at Capital Hill indicate that the funds were being siphoned from the consolidated account as officers from State House and the central bank were channeling the money as individual ministry allocations to justify the expenditures.
This well calculated move could not disrupt government’s business, mainly in the ministry because no single penny of the official allocations for the ministries appears to have been mismanaged.
When such payments were made, someone at the Accountant General would erase all the information regarding the dubious payments.
“When you follow the transactions, you find that all ministries got what they were allocated for the month except that there were more funds deposited in their accounts that suddenly disappeared,” one of the sources, privy to the investigations, said.
Revelations that some ministries such as that of tourism paid out K4.3 billion in dubious transactions of goods and services in less than three months were just a tip of the amount of the rottenness, according to the paper.
Meanwhile, sources have also revealed that that most companies believed to have been siphoning public funds at the ministry of tourism area also suspected to have been used at the ministry of Local Government to siphon about K1.5 billion between April and September this year.
Other details regarding the cash gate scandal show that within six months, K1.7 billion was disbursed and out of that amount, around K1.5 billion is suspected to have been stolen through dubious transactions.
The allegedly involved companies are being investigated because services or works done or rendered to government cannot be traced or found in government financial management system.
Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament recently resolved to summon Reserve Bank governor to explain the role of the bank in the Capital Hill cash-gate.
Meanwhile, PAC is expected to present a fresh report to Parliament on its findings and recommendations on Tuesday after consultations with various institutions working on the cash-gate such as the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
The committee has made 18 recommendations, but these are expected to increase after the business committee mandated the committee to incorporate recommendations members of Parliament made in plenary.
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