CSOs demand resignation of Malawi’s anti-graft chief
Civil society organisations have come hard on graft busting body Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) director general, asking him to resign following the bureau’s decision to clear President Peter Mutharika over the K145 million dubious donation from an Indian businessman that went in a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) bank account.
Pioneer Investment deposited the K145 million into the DPP account immediately after getting a K2.7 billion payment from MPS for supplying food rations. President Mutharika Mutharika is the sole signatory of the bank account held at Standard Bank,
Vice chairman of the vocal Forum for Human Rights Defenders Gift Trapence said the ACB chief Reyneck Matemba has compromidedy his position.
“We have lost trust in him. He is politically manipulated,” said Trapence.
The clearance of Mutharika in the dubious K145 million donation came barely days after Mutharika said there was nothing unusual in the donation saying organizations including political parties get donations from various organisations or individuals.
Mutharika described the money as an honest donation.
He claimed that no single cheque was written in his name and that some individuals he did not mention orchestrated the issue to blow it out of proportion.
“I know of a few individuals who were sent by some parties to tarnish my name and the DPP. All over the world, people receive donations and it is normal for people to receive donations,” said Mutharika on public broadcaster Malawi Broadcasting Corporation Talk to the President programme.
Matemba, in another interview said it is expected to get mixed reactions on the matter, saying the CSOs have a right of an opinion.
In its initial report, the ACB accused Mutharika of receiving money from crime proceeds but said he could not be prosecuted because as Head of State he is immune from prosecution.
The DPP, through its spokesperson Nicholas Dausi, who is also Minister of Information and Communications Technology, said it will refund the money to Pioneer Investment, a move the Malawi Law Society described as an admission of wrongdoing.
The matter is currently in the High Court in Blantyre where DPP and Pioneer last week argued that the case should be dismissed on grounds that the plaintiff, Youth and Society, does not have sufficient interest to pursue the case.
Political and social commentator Mustafa Hussein said forcing Matemba to resign was not a lasting solution to the problem.
He said the best solution is to encourage the ACB to fight corruption.
Vice president Saulos Chilima has promised that once voted into power, he would put the office of the ACB under parliament and he would remove immunity of a sitting president from immunity.
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Stupid vindictive clowns without brains. Why should Matemba resign. Nawo a Pitala why give back the money? You people think you are intelligent when you are very stupid and are bent on tarnishing peoples image. Who really doesnt know that Chilima is a crook? Why are you so bitter to the extent of forgetting to fuck your wives. Have a life leave Mtambo and Trapence do their things they must make fools of themselves in order to get donor funding.
Am fed up with these so called CSO’s the so called Gift Trapence,they masquered as if they were elected by people to represent them,and who are they representing,they seem to have nothing to do.Angolimbana ndi zinthu zopanda ndi mchere komwe.Trapence ndi Mtambo tangoyambisani chipani chanu kuti mwina mulowe mmboma kusiyana ndi phokoso mwatikwana nalo panoli.
Kodi Matemba ndi wa mmuna. Timawu tija confused me ntachikazi. He is corrupt as well and has no integrity. Why did he not stand by the original report? The one who leaked it saw that the president was implicated. Had it been a small fish he would not have leaked. This whistle blower did the nation some good.
Matemba is not a problem, the problem is our MPs who approved his appointment in Parliament. They all saw it coming as they have always cried foul, but they went ahead to approve him. So why blame Matemba as if he offered the job himself?
True. After all Mr. Matemba never went down on his knees to beg for the appointment. As a human being he is doing what he perceives to be correct and within his gumption. If Gifiti Thilapensi had issues with him, the best thing was for him, Gifiti Thilapensi, to have an audience with him. In any case I would not be surprised if Mr. Matemba would take him head on in court for belittling him publicly on an issue which Parliament would have sought some clarification from him.
What do you expect in a nation that is run like a zoo. When you throw bones at lions every morning, they will systematically love you. Relationship of bone thrower and bone catcher
Brilliant Comment!
Posterity will judge you indeed brother Reyneck. This is the career apex you have reached and I hope you opted to remain a civil servant. Mwina nkuzapeza kokuponyani bomali likasintha. Otherwise you have been a disappointment. You have reached the lowest point of your semblance of being a professional. You have ripped off all the hope I had in you, I thought you would still be the youthful visionary professional once you were. Alas! You have drunken from the same cup of filth. Fare thee well once your contract comes to an end.
The mistakes you have made should be lessons to all of us who believe in holding public officd holders to account. We dont want a repeat of this mess come 2019
pathfinder, leave them .the duty of dogs is to bark at any creature walking at their yard. they work like dogs and not people
He is useless. He thinks he is very clever
Countrymen, I tend to agree with the strong arguments from the CSOs. If the standard bank account has a single signatory; and that single signatory happens to be our Head of State then certainly it appears to me that HE has a case to answer. Especially that the K145 million that was deposited in that account has issues.
Clearly Pioneer Investments appears to have a case to answer too regarding the manner in which their Rations Contract with the Malawi Police Service was handled. And that the K145 million came from that deal is also suspicious – it needs to be probed and prosecuted. And to have a corporate account have only one signatory is wrong – it cannot be defended. I am not sure whether it is criminal but certainly it is wrong.
ACB cannot be investigator, prosecutor, jury, judge and executioner. ACB have done their work in exposing the scandal around the Police Rations deal and how Pioneer Investments ended up getting additional K466 million which was unwarranted – then K145 million from that deal ended up in that standard bank account. That’s where ACB’s role ends. Then the matter should be sent to a court of law for their competent handling
From a non-legal mind, there are issues that need to be reviewed and handled by a competent court of law. ACB should not be involved in declaring people as guilty or not guilty. This matter needs to go to court and let the courts make necessary pronouncements. The parties to be tried and judged include: a) Pioneer Investments; b) Relevant officials in the Police Service; and c) the signatories to the standard bank account where the K145 million was deposited.
HE is a trained lawyer. He should know better on such legal matters. There is nothing political in this matter. ACB Director General having over-stepped his mandate should honourably step aside. He is failing Malawians big time. Some of the people that are answering cashgate cases did much less wrong than this. Many prisoners languishing in our prisons did much less wrong than this. Amangwetu!
koma matemba waonjeza. achokedi. if you say CSO should appeal, when it goes to court, the result will be the same coz a DPP ali ponse ponse. Reneck achoke
In fact in as long as Peter is the president, we can’t possibly expect him to hang himself especially with ACB in his pocket. We should probably take this as good news because once there’s change of power, the case will be reopened and both the head of ACB and his master will be in jail within days of the charges. There’s just too much implicating evidence available in the public domain.
THE ACB IS A WASTE OF PUBLIC SERVICE MONEY. IT SHOULD BE ABOLISHED. AND FURTHER THE DIRECTOR WILL NOT BE NEEDED
The CSOs have a very strong argument. How can the ACB be a clearing house for corrupt activities? Money fraudulently acquired from Police ends up in Peter Mutharikas bank account. What about due diligence on the President handlers as to how he receives donations. If it was not due to the leaked report. Matemba would have been sitting on this investigation. Up to now not even an arrest of the culprits involved. He should have resigned a long time ago. He has been an embarrassment to the nation
KKKKKKKK Funny people indeed. This so called CSOs is here to bring chaos in our country. It seems like whenever the case doesn’t go according to there shallow understanding, the only solution for them is for the particular individual they don’t like to resign. My goodness gracious me, who told you that you are right all the time? Whatever it is that you are smoking young boys, please quit, because you are not doing our nation any good.
Kulira ndi kubangula kwa DPP die hard, Mr Pathfinder. Muli pa chintchito choteteza DPP. Kaya mukwanitsa? Ndakaika.
Matemba is a big embarrassment. Posterity will judge him. He potrayed some fake flashes of competence and independence when he was serving as deputy. SHAME ON HIM
So JB got a gift from Lutepo,then why DPP were saying it was corrupt money.The CCTV saga.Kikkkkkk
I think ma CSOs akumalawi abowa kwambili. Its the high time we fought back so that they should live the whole of their lives to regret.
Dziko la Malawi likuvutika chifukwa cha anthu ngati. That’s backward thinking at its best. Kuctchinjiriza anthu osolola kumeneko.