K4bn payout in Malawi chief elections officer account: Treasury deposited cheque on eve of May 21 polls
There has been revelations that Treasury deposited K4 billion into a bank account named the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) at Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) on the eve of the May 21 Tripartite Elections, fuelling suspicion that the money could have been part of ‘buying’ staff to help in ‘mismanagement’ of the polls.
But the chief elections officer Sam Alfandika has downplayed such fears , said a day before the polls, the electoral body had many people to pay their dues including field staff hence the payment from Treasury through Reserve Bank of Malawi cheque number 127883 dated May 202019.
Alfandika said the bank account named after his post continue to get billions “because we are still making payments to people who rendered their services to the commission during the elections.”
But critics say this was a “secret account” and the money could possibly be used t bribe commissioners and other people.
“It if twas clean money, it should have passed through the mainstream MEC account,” observed one.
One suggested that the court must be moved to compel the bank to make available for public scrutiny statements of the account so the the nation should know how much money was channelled through the account, the signatories, who authorised the opening of the account and for what purposes.
The development comes at a time when petitioners are seeking nullification of the presidential results in the May 21 Tripartite Elections at the Constitutional Court intended to examine bank accounts of the country’s electoral staff to track possible bribe.
The opposition lawyers needed to know whether any MEC staff had had transactions in their accounts that are unusual, that could not be explained in terms of inflows of funds.
However, a panel of five judges of the High Court of Malawi comprising Healey Potani, Dingiswayo Madise, Ivy Kamanga, Redson Kapindu and Mike Tembo, dismissed the petitioners’ request for MEC to release bank details of its data entry clerks, saying such action was beyond the mandate of the electoral body.
The court observed that allowing MEC access to the staff’s bank accounts would be an infringement of their right to privacy.
In the case, the country’s immediate past vice-president Saulos Chilima, who represented UTM Party in the presidential race, is the first petitioner while Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president Lazarus Chakwera is the second petitioner with President Peter Mutharika and Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) as first and second respondents, respectively.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :
Zinthu ngati izi tinachita kale condemn pa Malawi nthawi ya mkulu wake wa Pitala, Bingu. Yemwe adali Sekilitale wa ku offesi ya za Chuma Milton Kutengule adatsegula yekha ka account ka Mardef kaya chani yekha ndikukhala signatory. Adanyambitako ndalama kumeneko. A Malawi tidakana mchitidwe umenewu womatsegula ma account mudzina la adindo pamene bungwe lawo lili ndi account ina, chifukwa zimaonjezele mchitidwe wokuba ndalama za boma komanso kusokoneza kalondolondo wa ndalamazo. Olo ma process angatalike cholinga chake ndikuteteza chuma chaboma (misonkho yawanthu)
reporter the story is incomplete and meant to inflame emotions. what was the practice before, did this account exist before? were other payments made into this account? what is the use of the account. otherwise no need to give half information.
The Chief Elections Officer has come out and said the account was set to circumvent the checks imposed on government transactions by IFMIS. This is stealing and I expect the ANTI CORRUPTION BUREAU to step- oooh what am saying- no need they are all thieves and their time is UP.
Ben phili on corruptors kkkkkkklkkkkkklllkkkkkkkk
wasting time for nothing,every cheque paid is Madando,mmafuna asalipidwe anthu,
Koma Malawi ndiyophweka mapeto! Mpaka regional cashier kupeleka K4 billion ku account ya officer? How much was wired to the MEC Chairperson, as a MEC officer too? Nde tizinamizana za IFMIS nso apaaaaaaaaaaaaa?
Dr Jane Ansah, how many tracks do you send with Sam when he is withdrawing since these are billions? kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
Alufandika with his gay voice
“Chief elections officer…?” Where on earth? The treasury people should as well be pinned on this seriously! Inu anthu kumudziku akuvutika, kudya mfutso june to december, mvula ikagwa ndikumasintha mnkhwani ndi bonongwe, nyemba ndi nyama kumazionera kumaliro ndi mzikwati, akati akagule mchere or sugar zimisonkho phwiiii …! Inu basi kumagawana choncho ndalama yamisonkhoyo! Failing to provide drugs to hospitals, failing to construct school blocks, mkumati muli ndiumunthu? Tonde ofula Muntharika can’t say he does not know this, how can a professor of law explain such an account? Ansah wamphere kumpheto, how will she explain this? Even if you had lots of issues to settle out, can you come out to explain the use of secret account please! We have had international organizations giving in financial support, what would this indicate to them? If Malawi is to be ruled by these thieves, killers, hypocrites and brainless sons and daughters of devil in the next five years, then it will be established Malawians are meant for hell from their birth!
Mizimu yolira yonse kuti khuthuuuuuu mwa Alufandika ndi Mai Madandu, osayiwalaso Pitala .
Mumumva kuwawa Malawi wake si uyuyu…..Tiye nawo Chilima fwanthura mithakati.
For sure government and MEC had take Malawians for fools. How can this whole trash be allowed in the modern world. By 22nd May 2019 funds in the range of 3 million kwacha were being transferred to clerks of The Electral body. If we dont do anything we are fools of the highest order.
Unbundling bribes by MEC, time is really moving fast against MEC.
Do we have a legal person in the name of Chief Elections Officer in Malawi? If not, how could a bank open an account in the name of a person whose identity can not be legally proved?
Zayamba kuululika. Tiyeni nazoni
Alufandika masaya kutupa chifukwa cha ndalama zakuba…… ulibe manyazi
Mmmmmmmhmmmmm Ooooky Our Tax
I stand in awe, but where on earth have we seen an account named after a CEO of an organization?? i believe this was a secret account, and that the money was used to bribe the commissioners, Corporate governance gone wrong here!
kkkkkkkkk nyasatimes you have a lot of work to do, go ahead and destroy your on country.
Every organization has got policies memorandum or constitution in there , there is a binding as to where or account whereby the organization shall receives its funding in such there’s no personal account name. But organization name with atleast 2or 3signatories.
How come the money went straight into alufandikas account personal account and yet MEC is independent body and more over from reserve bank?
Amangidwe umboni ulipo ndi corruption komaso anabera zisankho
Koma chingerezi chimavuta kumva
4b how many tons of vehicle; All that is for salaries; One goal; Mukunama tu inu;
Malawi will not grow; Look t his his house in Nyambadwe ena akuti NNja mwana wake; who is fooling who
Eh. Harold wagundikatu ntchito ya u cadet. With your bull$hit explanations.
This was corruption at its best otherwise moneys to be paid to Mec staff were supposed to pass through MEC account. Is Alufandika an accounts personnel at MEC? 4BN kwacha is very material that is can not just be sent to personnal account like that.
Sam Alufandika and team, you deserve to be castrated, I will personally volunteer to do this noble job on you, fwetseki
SHAAAA APA NDIYE KUYALUKIRATU UMBONI UNGAPOSE PAMENEPA AN ADAD ALI MMADZI KKKKK YEHOVA WATHU AKUMVA MAPEMPHERO
kkkkkkkk chibanzi
See AMALAWI and specially the honourable judges….what more proofs do we need….. that this mbaava party clearly robbed our votes. these dpp thugs have been using our tax payers monies at will as if apm’s dad left him all this monies n estates. Bloody hell these dpp thieves are using our own monies to rob our votes n insult us like this. Come on aMalawi… these guys are now taking us Malawians as fools. And they used FDH coz they too are part and parcel of MTC (MBAVAA THUGS CLUB) as if we don’t know. Imagine ku ESCOM as this MTC member is achair there.
MBAVAA ACHOKE!!!!!!!!!
DPP THUGS ACHOKE!!!!!
AMAYI MADANDO ACHOKE!!!!!!!!
Evidence is not the payment per se but what was the payment for – that should be our main focus.
aah for those who have worked or are working with banks how legit is the name Chief Elections Officer written on the chq i find this odd Kapena is this how u name ppo on the cheq using there positional name???
UTM desperately hunting for evidence
Times, you should have investigated more. Mudzichitsa manayazi. I thought the money went into the Personal Name of the CEO! Was the account with a sole signatory? Was the Board of MEC sanctioned the opening of the account? Remember know your customer, there is no way MEC could have opened the account without Mandates i.e. Authorization from Treasury. What was the treasury paying for? Were the recipients gotten their moneies?
WE WANT TO BE READING REALLY ISSUES. If you bring such findings, please tell us some intelligent news backing up your stories. Please I beg.
That is why we are shocked! The CEO does not personally handle accounts and payouts for services.
We will find out the signatories of this account and who got paid and for what?
They thought they were too clever.
FDH is should also be investigated for money laundering and other financial crimes if it did not follow proper procedures for deposits of such large amounts as banks do on the eve of the elections.
This is just a smoking gun. We shall investigate the origination and disbursement of the money. Stay tuned!
infringment to their right to privacy bwanji when it a matter of national interest…. Anthu azionetsa ma nudes bank statement nkachaninso?
Every evil plan will be exposed, the battle is not ours, our democracy is in danger……..Malawi is rotten to the roots
nde mwati 4 Billion Kwacha only????? thats alot of money, how can you say only?????
Shaaaaa. DPP very sorry. This is just too much really when people started saying MEC received bribery we said it was just allegation look now 4billion kwacha could be used to build a high from area 49 to airport through area 25 Nsungwi. Stupid people nullify the elections please the whole process were fraud. We wondered how MEC behaved on Wednesday 22 May rubbish I can see more arrests looming. There is living God in heaven who can allow to punish innocent Malawians please lets the these philistines be destroyed completely and Malawians enjoy their fertile land.
mbava zimenezi ………. mavuto amalawi will follow you forever
By the way is ACB there and still working according to its establishment by UDF?
4 Billion is a lot of money,i cry for my beloved Malawi
baseless and unfounded
1. So Chief Elections Officer has official account on behalf of MEC and an organisation?
2. How many 30 tonnes truck went to the bank when Chief Elections Officer was withdrawing the cash to make payment to the so called ”many people”?
on 25 April 2019,Nyasa Times carried n article to the effect that MEC had a deficit of K3.3billion to meet the elections budget.So to me if 4 weeks down the line the government paid MEC K4bn that was expected.
Everybody was blaming MEC and the government on that day of being poorly organised.
The remaining 700 mil was contingency fund?
This was a well calculated move from both MEC and DPP to say there was a deficit of K3.3Billion for easy transferring of money. Why giving the money to MEC on elections eve ?