Malawi govt defends Bingu wa Mutharika’s K61bn wealth

The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has defended the  K61 billion wealth said to have been accumulated by former president Bingu wa Mutharika, saying he had the capacity to accumulate such wealth and that there is no evidence the money was stolen.

Minister of Information, Patricia Kaliati, who is also government spokesperson defended late Mutharika in an interview after the issue of how the former president accumulated such wealth was raised during deliberations in the National Assembly, where member of parliament Harry Mkandawire  said the money was an indication of corruption at high level.

Kaliati said late Mutharika worked for the UN, the World Bank, had farms and he was also a writer who kept on publishing books to make money..

She said as someone who retired in the UN at the grade of D1, it would not be surprising that he also had bank accounts with substantial amounts internationally.

“It is high time people start making allegations and provide evidence,” she said.

“They are talking about bank accounts, where are the bank documents legally produced by the so called banks? They are talking about houses and other infrastructures, where are the title deeds of these things? There are no real documents here.”

Kaliati subsequently described the allegations as a pathetic political move.

“We know it is being perpetuated by some disgruntled individuals who want to come into the limelight. Some of them at one point had wanted to join the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) but failed because we only accommodate people with dignity here.

“These are disgruntled, disappointed individuals, failures and thieves,” she said.

Kaliati insisted that government was aware that exposing late Mutharika’s wealth was just a ploy by the opposition to damage the DPP administration but she said the government was not disturbed with such moves.

She said Mutharika never stole money from government coffers, saying no court of law prosecuted him on the matter.

Kaliati said to the contrary, former president Joyce Banda had stolen huge sums of money through cashgate saying this is why she is a criminal refugee in South Africa.

According to documents relied by Mkandawire,  the MP is claiming that Mutharika’s monetary wealth and real estate amounts to over  K61 billion which was being held as hard cash in various bank accounts.

Mkandawire claims late Mutharika’s accumulation of such wealth explains why the country found itself in economic problems.

Minister of Justice Samuel Tembenu dismissed the accusations that late Mutharika accumulated his wealth from shady deals, saying the MP is making claims “simply out of speculation.”

“As a matter of fact there is no investigation and there is no prosecution. Nobody was prosecuted even the former president was not prosecuted for us to determine that he has taken any money,” said Tembenu.

Reports say late Mutharika’s sources of wealth, among others, Mota-Engil made the cheque deposits into the late president’s personal bank account number 0140001886701 at Capital City Branch of Standard Bank.

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