How the Malawi Electoral Commission FDH account came about: Facts of the matter

July 1, 2019 Atwel Kabungwe 99 Comments

The K4 billion cheque from Treasury to a Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) current account named Chief Elections Officer –  is yet another propaganda that collapses in the face of truth.

The desperation in Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and UTM camp to find evidence to support their petition in the elections case is reaching a breaking point. The latest of their stunts is to the K4 billion payout.

Alfandika: The account is audited like any other
K4 billion deposited into MEC chief elections officer account on the eve of May 21 polls

MCP’s Lazarus Chakwera and  UTM’s Saulos Chilima filed the petition in court last month challenging the Presidential results of the May 21 elections.

However, to-date, they have struggled to find evidence to prove their case. They have piled before themselves tons of documents hoping to find the evidence in that haystack.

The leakage of the cheque is one of their propaganda to justify their case. However, this also fails miserably, as Chilima and Chakwera have deliberately put aside facts on the cheque.

 

Fact of the matter

In their propaganda, they have maligned MEC Chief Elections Officer Sammie Alufandika as the recipient of the money.

In directly attacking Alufandika, they hope to justify their allegation that MEC officials were bribed to falsify figures of the elections in favour of President Peter Mutharika.

However, the facts of the matter are that the said account is not a personal account. It does not belong to Alufandika. It belongs to the office of the Chief Elections Officer.

It is an institutional account which has existed even prior to the previous elections in 2014. There are also institutional signatories to the account. It was opened legitimately, and for legitimate purposes.

How the account came about

Due to delays in government financial transactions, MEC was bearing the consequences due to the time-bound nature of some of its activities. Therefore, MEC pleaded with the Government in 2013 to assist the elections body so that it does not suffer delays in clearance of Treasury cheques.

Government then resolved and authorised MEC to open an account in the name of an office, hence the Chief Elections Officer.

Government releases the funds through IFMIS and through Regional Treasury Cashier. MEC then processes the funds to be deposited into that account.

The activities through this account are auditable – just as it happens with all other accounts.

Psychological coercion

Chilima and Chakwera are aware of this legitimate process. However, they have deliberately avoided it knowing that it backfires on their strategy to try their case in the public court.

They filed their petition while they did not have evidence to prove their case. That is why they have kept amending their documents in court. They have also kept asking those who have evidence to bring it forth.

Through their lawyers, they have been demanding information from every stakeholder in the elections.

The leakage of the K4 billion cheque is one of their tactics on psychological coercion of the five judges that are hearing the case.

It is another of their strategies to create an extra-judicial and illegal system where the case is tried through mob justice instead of the court system.

In their bid, they have attacked the judges themselves claiming three of them have been bribed. They have been hustling them whenever they have been going to court such that they now go to court under military escort.

Chakwera and Chilima have also attacked MEC chair Justice Jane Ansah and all MEC Commissioners and staff, UNDP and all other stakeholders.

They have also been mobilizing people to maim and kill other Malawians and steal and destroy private and public property.

However, pressure is now mounting on them. Chakwera, Chilima and their CSO individuals have come under fire from Catholic Bishops and Malawians for organising violent demonstrations related to their election case. They are accused of conspiracy to usurp court duties and undermine constitutional means on dispute settlement.

Transparent Election

Their pursuit is even made worse by the fact that all international observers and local election bodies highly-rated the elections as transparent and credible.

The African Union, European Union Election Observer Mission and SADC hailed the election as well-organized, credible, free and fair.

As part of the transparency initiatives, Malawi Electoral Support Network, NICE Trust and all political parties were allowed to run independent tally centres. Both MESN and NICE independently found that Mutharika had won the election.

  • The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the editorial views of Nyasa Times

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99 replies on “How the Malawi Electoral Commission FDH account came about: Facts of the matter”

  1. The entire top official is the decaying all thieves that is 100% standing with parent reasons to to fight for better leaders not these greedy bastards we sick and tired we are patiently looking forward judgement but we vigilant if the truth is not prevail.

  2. Kodi nthawi ija unkati mweee ndi masaya ako otupa aja ku COMESA kuteroko kunali kumwemwetera folo bilioni iwe Alufandika. Kenako watuma chitsiru chalemba apachi utachipatsako pang’ono 4 billion ija. Komatu chaka chino ndithu tikukhadzuliranani anthu inu.

  4. Don’t fool us. This account is irregular. Chief Elections Officer (CEO) is neither a natural or legal person and you can’t open an account in this name. FDH Bank owes Malawians an explanation on what documents they used to open this account. CEO is just a position not a natural or legal person. Mfiti zakuba.

  5. This is complete nonsense, as an organization, you put up a system and when the systems fails you, you bypass it by setting up another system auxiliary to the authorized system. My question is why have the authorized system when workers can bypass it and get away with the same fraud that the original system is trying to control.

    Alifandika can explain from sunrise to sunset and even the whole night, no right minded person can believe his story.

    Funny enough a bank quickly comes in to defend an already impaired reputation, by applying blame game that we only inherited the account from the acquired bank. For over 4 years now why did they not do due diligence to establish the authenticity of the account in question, especially when huge sums of money were being deposited and withdrawn at the same time. Banks should help government or the nation in assuming the role whistle blowing to alert people/stakeholders of questionable transactions and not facilitating such transactions.

    it also appears that this Chief Election Officer account was opened following failure to comply with procedures, should we say this failure was deliberate so as to frustrate a system, in order to open up a separate avenue when funds can early be syphoned out.

  6. Akuluakulu , ine nabour wanga ndi Cadet wa DPP koma guys chipani cha DPP is misery miss using the government resources for sure, just imagine akuti ana adadi wina aliyense amugulira Fortuner after this t-pex elections akuti kuwathokoza agwira ntchito yabwino pobera zitsankho kkkkk

  7. Whatever transaction you cant deny it is an official account…kulimbana nfi za ziii ndiye evidence munkanena a President anga? Za manyazi

  8. EVERYTHING IS KEPT UNDER CARPET
    IN MALAWI — WHY NOT CHECK BANK STATEMENTS FOR THESE MAFIAS ?? WHICH HUMAN RIGHTS IS THAT ??HUMAN RIGHTS FOR MAFIAS –CROOKS AND TIPPEX ??

  9. This is such a horribly written article for a “news outlet” assumption, assumption assumptions. There’s nothing wrong with writing with a biased aim, but do it professionally with facts and avoid apinions

  11. The letter from the accountant General authorising MEC to open an account with any bank clearly stated that and I quote ” no open cheque above K500,000.00 shall ever be processed by your office”
    But surpringly, MEC has been issuing open cheques to suppliers in the amount of over K2,500,000.00.

    Something is fishy here!!!!

    1. And despite fake arguments the cadet has still miserably failed to ansah why $5.2 million for MEC on the eve of election? Were payments to be done as votes were being counted?

  14. Behind every fact is an infinity of hypothesis. We will not buy your story at face value. There are hard questions to be answered here. (1) Why is the account in the name of a position/office and not MEC as an organisation? (2) Who are the signatories to this account? (3) Who benefited from the funds that went through this account? It is not the first time that this DPP government has operated slush accounts used to fund its activities. In 2005 through Milton Kutengule they opened the Ministry of Finance – Credit Scheme account with then Finance Bank drawing sums in excess of K17ml to run DPP activities. Kutengule has never been prosecuted for that fraud to this day despite drawing personal cheques running into millions as a single signatory in that account. Goodall Gondwe was the treasury chief at that time. So stop patronising us with this hogwash. You are not MEC and it is not your responsibility to respond on their behalf. The courts are there and should and will determine whether something sinister was going on with that account. Why are you so quick to cover up for MEC? Why is MEC quiet about about this damning expose?

  15. It appears the author is biased, however since the matter is in the courts we will wait upon the judges to do their work. For sure 62% of Malawians feel the MEC did not do a good job.

  16. pamsana pako alufandika,mutha kuthawa chilungamo pansi pano koma kumwamba kukuyembekezani

  17. Some people here are commenting ignorantly, they dont know how the systems in Government work. Unfortunately a well educated and high flying former vice President is in the forefront confusing his followers(WhatsApp & Facebook Lawyers) with very wrong information. He also cheated his followers with ANA ACHEPA SANGABELE and yet he is now crying pyoo kuti atibera. Cursing and castgating people here will not help MCP/UTM supporters, get real facts not useless information.

  20. i dont think that this article was written by Atwel Kabungwe, it might be someone from DPP who influence nyasatimes with money cos the whole content of this article ndioti anthu aputsistsike ndi zoona zimene ali nazo za nkhani za zitsankho, through the court record on Chilima and Chakwera court documents have issues that are strongly argued and that they will win using the same osati mutiputsitse pano kunena kuti akuvutika kupeza maumboni, this case also will prove if our COURTS HAS INDEPENDENT POWERS

  21. Facts of the matter aside the reporting by Times was not biased to the extent you are doing… I would trust TIMES over this journalism for sale BS you morons push .You have turned NyasaTimes into DPP propaganda

  22. Parrying an point required good brain. How does opening an account has to do with Chakwera and Chilima? You still think the battle is between Chilima and Chakwera on one hand and the DPP one the other? Not that simple. It is about what is right and what is wrong. It doesnt matter who is there so long it is wrong it remains wrong. If Chakwera and Chilima leave Malawi whoever is coming will be supported if he/she fights for justice. This account is dubious. Until its clear who withdraws money from the account and for what purpose.

  24. Guys read carefully pansi pa advertorial iyi. It’s not been written by Nyasatime but its a paid for article..someone is trying to pusisa mtundu wa a Malawi. Tazisiyeni izi. This article is paid fro and written by DPP. Osataya nthawi kuyankha

  26. TAMVETSEDWA KUTI PALI MA JOURNALIST ENA A NYASA TIMES AKUPATSIDWA NDALAMA NDI DPP KUTI AZILEMBA NKHANI NGATI IZI. MUSIILETU CHIFUKWA ANTHU AKE NDIKUKUDZIWANI

  28. This story is the making of DPP and MEC to clean what they feel was the secret … mwayalukabe. Palibe kubisala pachipande apa. Tinaziwa kale kuti muyankha choncho.

  29. Jena Ansah already said that Malawians are good fictional writers. The advent of fake news, unfortunately, has arrived in Malawi. I don’t really see what the story is here. We are going to finish this country for want of leadership, and the environment you are creating you will have to deal with in case you become leaders

  30. Nyasatimes, you are the one desperate to clean DPP and MEC’s name. Shame on you! Where did you get these facts from and you think we are stupid to believe your stupid propaganda? We need to check into Nyasatimes accounts as well and see how much is coming from the Treasury Dept. Malawians are done being taken for granted! Muchoka basi nyansi inu!

  31. Atwel, is this an opinion of yours or an editorial analysis, because your writing shows you are a DPP sympathiser. One question for you; I will qoute, “Then government…..authorised MEC to open an account in the name of an office, hence the Chief Elections Officer.” Is Chief Elections Officers an office or an Officer? That is my question to you?

  32. You wrote nothing my friend the fact is the money belong to Jane and Alufandika, no this thing light now Malawi has raised up from sleeping we will deal with them very soon.

  33. Ntchito yotani yomwe MEC mukufuna mutinmize zooneka kale izi….pa 20 May??? Ma lunch aja kuteloko amenewo.Koma ma Judge mukapanga chibwana matembelero awa akukhudzani,sambani mmanja pogamula chilungamo nkhani yachionekele iyi…

  34. you seem to be ignorant on Financial Crimes Act 2016.
    have ever read this ACT
    MBUZI YA MUNTHU IWE STUPID

  39. I pity the author of this article and the reason for Nyasatimes to allow such low grade PR to be published here. Let us wait and see if you won’t see the same story as that of MK145 million payout to DPP.

  41. THE PUBLIC RELATIONS WHICH HAS BEEN SHOWN BY THIS WRITER IS STUPIDITY AT ITS BEST. MY QUESTION IS IF WE ARE TO ALLOW EVERY OFFICER HOLDING GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS TO OPEN ACCOUNTS IN THEIR NAMES WHAT KIND OF ADMINISTRATION IS THAT.????

    WHO DOES NOT KNOW THAT THERE IS ALWAYS A DELAY IN PROCESSING GOVERNMENT TRANSACTIONS NOT ONLY CHEQUES?? FUCK YOU REPORTER AND YOUR STUPIDITY. ROAD TRAFFIC, IMMIGRATION, DCS THINK ABOUT THE BUREAUCRACY IN THESE DEPARTMENTS SO THE PLAUSIBLE WAY WAS TO OPEN AN ACCOUNT IN THE NAME OF ALUFANDIKA?

    I CAN FUND YOU TO COME HERE IN AUSTRALIA AND LEARN HOW PR WORKS. AS A MALAWIAN YOU MUST NOT SUPPORT STUPIDITY

  43. Chakwera, Chilima & Ntambo, the tickets for your journey to International Court of Justice are ready and waiting for you. Be ready. You can call your country man/lady to go home this is a good case for the ICJ. In addition people have died and also properties destroyed. There is a good case for you. Hope you will take Nyau to Hague. I wish you all the best and may your Souls rot in hell

  45. Nyasa Times, some of us who live outside of Malawi rely on your professional reporting. Please, don’t allow the kind of biased and unprofessional reporting as evidenced in this article.

    Thank you,

    Dr. Paul Paseli
    USA

  46. stupidity of authorship! you don’t have the mind pf Malawians at heart. Just clearly showing ur side!

  47. Saulosi and fake accent chakwera go and screw your selves, you 2 and you stinking CSO need to be locked away now! I think it’s what you want and it will happen, we are sick and tired of your shitttt. Shameless goats. Bloody failures. Maggots/ michimba ya anthu. Saulosi you always got stories about others? Was that not you wife on Facebook been shafted by malswitch guy! Tell us that storey this week.

  49. From the word ‘go’ of this article one clearly sees the BIG Cadet writing. To Hell with this trash!!!!! Our God is gonna put you in the limelight soon. Just wait and see.

  50. The author is a true sympathiser of ruling henchmen, and has been sent to clear the image of MEC and DPP

  52. This article is either written by a DPP cadet or else money has exchanged hands between the writer and the tippex guys. But one word for you is that zingakome bwanji ndalamazo one day the righteous Judge himself will reveal whatever you are doing in secret.

  53. Atwell Kabungwe, is this article really about the bank account in the name of Chief Elections Officer or its an attack to Chakwera and Chilima.

  54. Kkkkkkkk olo kunamiza anako, really? and they authorized creating an account in the name of one officer, unprecedented, can only happen in Malawi!!! Sorry to disappoint you Mr Chief Elections Officer, we are too smart and unfortunately also too enlightened to believe your trash explanation.

  55. cadet reporting…….so you are telling us that MEC does not subscribe to the principles of corporate governance……shame…kusapota mbamva dziko likugwa

  56. Stupid writer!
    if what you are writing is honest enough then lets allow forensic audit of the whole transaction.
    You DPP sympathizer, you take Malawians as uneducated and foolish. This is your time to dance to the tunes of majority of malawians

  57. Those international observers you love to cite, would they have declared the results credible if tippex was used on the result sheets? All that people want to know is what lies behind tippex? Is that too much to ask? If MEC has nothing hide no amount of propaganda as you want to call it should not bother them. If there is no evidence as you also claim those 5 judges will also tell the nation likewise. So don’t worry my friend you will soon be vindicated of what you claim to know is the truth.

  58. You poor pile of irredeemable feces. Shit in and shit out. Mugwa. Mwatsala pang’ono. Keep kissing those old men’s wrinkled asses in these last days of your corrupt, shit-stained rule.

  59. International observer just look at process ,they are not allowed to speak bad of it.Visa results?same same as peter

  61. i like the one you said the views are not of Nyasa times…Winaso wagulidwapo apa Demet.Malawians are NOT FOOLS.the elections were rigged

  63. Even if you say that this account was opened some time back, or that Treasury sanctioned it, it still defies rules of corporate governance. As a tax payer, I am really angry that this kind of blatant negligence ( if indeed negligence) is allowed in our country.

  65. Iwe nawenso [so called Atwel Kabungwe], when did you start working as MEC PRO or Chief Executive Officer’s PRO?

    Should we put it on recorde that you’re another hidden hole into which our resources are going? Kodi ndimayesa MEC belongs to Malawians? Is it news to you that APM’s government is a corrupt government? Do you’ve any record from gvt or parliament where Malawians were informed of the same before this exposure? Kodi iwe akutumaaaaaaaaaaaaa? Atwel bashopoooooooooooooooo!

  66. Useless article, you no longer speak the truth these days, and that will be the end of your online publication. Anakugulani inu, you no longer speak for Malawians

  67. A UTM ndi MCP tiyeni tingovomereza!that we dont hv enough evidence..tikangolandila tima cheque from our supporters ogwila mu bank basi tikuti evidence..mmmm ayi

  68. These are just the FACTS based on the FACT that writer of this article is MEC/DPP cadet. The TRUTH still remains that MEC/DPP rigged the 2019 elections period.

  69. Nyasatimes musanamizile MCP ndi UTM. Nkhaniyi ndi yanu. kambani zomwe mukuzidziwa osati za anzanu.

  70. Oh well done Sammy.We were very angry with you
    But it looks the social media is confusing many.
    If the Account is MECs , no problem.

  71. OLO UTADZIYERETSA CHOTANI ALUFANDIKA CHIHULE CHIJA CHI MAYI MADANDO NDINU ANTHU OYIPA TITHANA NANU, TIWONE NGATI MUZAYENDE AFULU KWA MOYO WANU ONSE

  72. You are just an idiot, stupid person. The case is court and you are not the judge to say it was credible. Useless person

  73. There is no harm in demanding accountability from public servants. Now that this article has been published, we know that something is not right with this account. Actually it is the writer of the article who is desperate to create a smoke screen. We will eventually come to the bottom of the matter. We will not leave any stone un-turned. Malawians deserve better than you crooks who think you are God sent. Simunati.

  74. This writing clearly show that the executive is behind you hence the confidence. It is not MCP or UTM, but Malawians in general who are concerned about these criminal acts. ACB needs to move in and extract the details. This is a syndicate of people siphoning government coffers. Well wishing Malawians are the ones who have exposed the malpractice.

  75. STUPID ALUFANDIKA WE ARE NOT KIDS THAT MONEY WAS YOURS, BETWEEN YU AND THAT JEZEBEL TO SHARE GOVT USED THAT ACCOUNT TO BRIBE SO THAT PEOPLE SHOULD THINK THAT THE MONEY WAS BUSSINESS FOR MEC

  76. Dpp cronies juggling tales with unrepentant stance. No matter how colorful your stupidity continues to be exposed! Malawian are not fools this time you’re caught in the act.

  78. How much money did Nyasa Times get paid to let this fool post this crazy article on their website? The Elections were rigged and there were a lot of irregularities. I am not surprised that some people will write anything for the sake of money. Long story short, the Writer of this article has been paid by the DPP to come up with this Bullshit.

  79. 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 ukunamiza ana eti? Ndiye what would delay payments into the MEC account which wouldn’t similarly delay the same payments into the CEO account? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

    1. Treasury gave them a waiver (often allowed in special and unusual circumstance under the law ofcourse) to operate an account as per their demands. You are able to in these circumstances to speed up in this case their payments..The law gives the Secretary to the Treasury those powers. Take note this account has been there for sometime even the previous election used the same. Its unfortunate that we normally comment with no insight with how the Treasury operates… Accounts for government or parastatals are opened by the Accountant General and you won’t appreciate the scrutiny they undergo.

      1. You didn’t answer the question Harold. The author of this article Akuti this helps speed up processes. My question is, how does changing the RECIPIENT (not the GIVER) speed up anything? And the fact that this account has been there since whenever doesn’t mean it’s legit. We’ve been complaining about rigging for some time and having questionable accounts like these only makes us feel vindicated. Waiver or no waiver, this type of accounting is prone to abuse. And isn’t it the same questionable government which gave the waiver anyway? Speaking of the “Treasury”, judging from recent dubious happenings coming from that corner doesn’t make your argument stronger.

      2. seeking waivers for what? zamanyi basi. these people had full four years preparing for the elections ndiye amapempha waiver yachani as if elections were a surprise. mutiyankhuletu bwino amalawife tatopa nazo izi

      3. Even if it has been there for along time, they can still use it for crooked purposes. The use of this money should be well scrutinized by the ACB to uncover the truth whether good or bad. Both the MEC or CEO accounts can have delays in payments, dont cheat people here.

      4. Cooperate governance does not allow this bro. What is so special with MEC as compared to other organizations. After all this was and has never been an emergency. Why create favorable grounds for abuse and corruption. Blue thieves.

      5. Please provide the insight: What are the special and unusual circumstances? What are the types of demands for these accounts? How long are the delays with normal accounts, to require special accounts to speed up their payments? These are public funds; you can not simply hide behind secretive knowledge of how Treasury operates. It is exactly this secrecy that allows abuse to happen. Not too long ago, an ST was convicted of illegally operating a bank account. And how can you talk of scrutiny under this DPP regime which is a study in transferring public funds for personal use?

      6. How far did you go with school?
        Do you think we are children?
        We will follow the origination and disbursement of that money and I can assure you a lot of people are going to jail if a new government comes in.

        Foolish! Do you think MEC invented corporate governance?
        We now need a list of all MEC accounts used in election-related matters.

      7. If a lot of scrutiny is applied in the operation of funds, we would not have all these incidents including at the reserve bank where money went into wrong pockets. We fail in Malawi because people become defensive when accountability is demanded. The MEC CEO is fighting tooth and nail wanting judges to dismiss the election case because he and his cronies would not like the people of Malawi to see what they have been doing with the resources and power delegated to them. Let us scrutinise and if nothing happened, we will move on. There is nothing wrong with that. So, stop defending the indefensible. these guys are not going to volunteer information to Malawians so Malawians have to fight to see what really happened.

      8. My man special accounts are abused government officials a case in time is one involving Bakili Muluzi, Milton Kutengule just to mention a few. So if the account was set up for special circumstances then bribing electoral officials falls into the category of special circumstances.

      9. Ndiye kukadakhala cashgate if what there was the supposed scrutiny? Which government are you talking about. If they did, would we have all this rot. Nonsense. We will never be cheated again poor DPP.

      10. You a liar Harold. Accounts for parastatals are operated by themselves. That is why they have cheque books, they sign these internally and are audited independently. the Treasury is not involved. Bodza bwanji? I deal with these orgs all the time,

      11. The problem is assuming that we are all uneducated. Is there a certificate of registation for a parastatal called CEO? Why was this account not in the name of MEC? how does an account that receive money from treasury make it quicker to process payments just because its in the name of the CEO rather than MEC? is BWB account in the name of CEO or parliament account in the name of the Clerk? Is account number one in the name of the president? why is the account for Luanar not in the name of the principle? just take your rubbish and shove it where the sun don’t shine. ngati mukudya bwino…dzidyani nthawi yanu idzafika.

  81. You can write an article and still be impartial even though you are a cadet,
    not propaganda from first sentence ayi

    1. Eti? If he had been impartial, his article would have had more impact. Koma the language used made me wonder if he’s telling the truth and now I’m poking holes in his arguments. And this explanation should be coming from finance guys in government, not a cadet. Otherwise it just makes it sound suspicious

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