Malawi army commander implicated in abuse of soldiers peacekeeping pay

Malawi Defence Force (MDF) newly appointed Commander Griffin Supuni Phiri  is being accused by a section of soldiers at Kamuzu Barracks that he was involved in the abuse of monies due them when he served at the UN.

Supuni-Phiri, who for a long time served as Malawi’s military attache at the Malawi Mission at the United Nations and as aide de camp to then president Bakili Muluzi, was appointed General of MDF last Saturday after President Peter Mutharika fired General Ignacious Maulana.

But some soldiers at the Malawi barracks are circulating a dossier of financial abuses at the military which include a memo from Kamuzu Barracks that indicated Supuni Phiri had to use troops money to purchase a motor vehicle worth US$30,000,00 when he was at UN  2012.

According to the circulating memo among soldiers,  refrenced CQ/202, Colonel Kapalamula  responding to Supuni Phiri’s letter  DIP ¾ dated 17 October , 2012 , wrote that the then Defence Force Commander Henry Odillo approved Supuni’s “request” to procure a vehicle from the United Nations Reimbesement Fund.

The soldiers are claiming at Supuni Phiri had abused their peacekeeping mission money claiming to share “further evidence” of abuse  to the media.

Government had deducted  allowanced to soldiers who have been participating in peacekeeping missions in war-torn countries under the UN umbrella about K3.3 billion.

MDF gets the tranche from the United Nations’ Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) to pay the soldiers.

The peace keeping allowance is a major source of revenue to cushion soldiers.

MDF communication seen by Nyasa Times confirms that the New York-based DPKO had been remitting insufficient funds for troop allowances.

Instead of the $1 332 as authorised by the UN, MDF released to each of the concerned soldiers $574 (about K297 332 at the current exchange rate) in September and October 2014.

MDF, according to the internal communication, adjusted the amount to $1 099 per soldier per month for the months of November, December 2014 and January 2015.

The concerned soldiers petitioned government, questioning why their allowances were being deducted without any explanation.

The soldiers also complained of delayed payments of the allowances.

Treasury Spokesman Nations Msowoya said deployment of the MDF soldiers to participate in peacekeeping missions and payment of their dues is entirely an MDF matter, saying therefore, “Treasury cannot competently comment on it.”

MDF spokesperson Colonel Paul Chiphwanya  said the information related to the issues was confidential.