Kamlepo sticks to his guns on Malawi ‘cashgate ministers’  after surviving ouster

Outspoken Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament vice-chairperson Kamlepo Kalua has remained defiant that President Peter Mutharika should stop shielding seven rotten ministers in his cabinet fingured in the files of the 2009 to 2014 forensic audit.

Kalua, who is Rumphi East legislator (People’s Party-PP), has been alleging that Mutharika is shielding corrupt gangasters in his cabinet  .

“The matter is simple. Some corrupt barons embezzled $330m between 2009 and 2014. A recent forensic audit shows among those implicated are seven cabinet ministers. We want them fired,” said  Kalua, who made headlines in the transition period from single to multi-party democracy in the early 1990s through daring proclamations on Channel Africa in South Africa.

He said the foreign forensic auditors who conducted the audit submitted the names and files of those implicated to the Anti-Corruption Bureau and National Audit Office for action.

According to Kalua, if Mutharika fails to arrest “the thieves in his cabinet”, he should resign as he is not in control of the state affairs.

But Mutharika has vehemently rejected the accusation, claiming he did not know names of the implicated ministers and challenged Kalua to name and shame the corrupt ministers.

“This lawmaker should bring the names at Kamuzu Palace or he should shut up forever. I sent the Chief Secretary to the Auditor General to get the names and he came back saying there are no such names,” Mutharika said.

But Kalua hit back, charging that Mutharika could get the names from Anti-Corruption Bureau and National Audit Office.

“The President is not being honest…. It is a joke for the president to express ignorance on the names,” he said.

Kalua added: “Let him follow up with the auditor general because the auditor general said he submitted 13 files to the Anti-Corruption Bureau and out of those files, seven belonged to cabinet ministers.”

Following the outbursts, Kalua alleged that government was bribing members of his committe to unseat him.

Indeed Kalua was summoned for disciplinary hearing after members accused him of bringing the committee into disrepute.

His chairperson Alekeni Menyani said the committee had instead made a gentleman’s agreement with Kalua after hearing his side of the story.

“Impeachment would have been a harsh punishment and could only apply in worst case scenarios. But the committee is satisfied with the manner that he has undertaken to go through protocol processes,” said Menyani.

Menawhile, Kalua insists that he stands by his position that seven Cabinet ministers mentioned in the forensic audit must resign, saying the larger files implicate them and not just the 13 files of business persons and companies.

Auditor General Stephenson Kamphasa has denied sharing any such information with the committee as alleged by Kalua save for 13 files which have been submitted to Anti-Corruption Bureau for investigation.