Mchacha spends night in cooler, arrested over corruption allegations
The opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Southern Regiongovernor and former Cabinety minister Charles Mchacha spent a night in police custody following his arrests by Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Sunday.
His arrest in Blantyre follows investigations that he acquired public land in Limbe, Blantyre.
ACB director general Reyneck Matemba said details of Mchacha’s arrest will be disclosed Monday after recording him statements.
Mchacha has been under investigations about his acquisition of Plot Number LW1366 at Limbe West (Kanjedza Forest) in Blantyre City.
The DPP regional governor was granted approval to lease 1.171 hectares of leasehold land for 99 years, beginning July 1 2019.
But the procedure the Ministry of Lands used when selling the land to Mchacha raised eyebrows at the Department of Forestry to which the sold land belonged.
Mchacha got the land after applying for 1.2497 hectares of the said land.
The offer letter, with reference number SR/BT/19/94, from the Regional Commissioner of Lands (South) Peter Chikweni, but signed by former lands minister Symon Vuwa-Kaunda, informed Mchacha that the said plot was available for him upon paying development fees of K30.5 million.
Surprisingly, the lease document from “the Minister of the Malawi Government Responsible for Land Matters”, granted Mchacha approval to lease 1.171 hectares of leasehold land for 99 years from July 1 2019 before he paid for it.
Mchacha paid the whole amount on October 14 2019—through NBS Bank, Blantyre Service Centre—three days after the land was offered to him.
But while Mchacha made the payment on October 14 2019, the lease document indicates that he was given the approval to lease the land on July 1 2019—three-and-a-half months before he made the payment.
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Why not arrest him for abuse of his office to marry a minor?
Is the burden of guilt on the buyer or seller? Mchacha was offered, he met the offer conditions. These are just political arrests for embarrassing Mcp in the past. This will lead to nowhere. Might costs government in future.
I hope he remembers the shameful slapping of the Police at Bvumbwe road block some years back.
Pali nkhani apa? Amabungwe,a Mtambo, a times Banda , zodiac kuli ziiii chinjoka chinameza.The world is watching.
The Ministry of lands sold the land did everything ss required. And ACB ikuona kuti Mchacha anaba malowa. By the Burundians, Nigerians. Rwandees have built houses, shops, lodges even upstair houses in residential areas of, for example, Mchesi, but no oñe, even Chimwendo can touch these illegal immigrats. Tonse government!
Did the Burundian build those buildings during Tonse governmemt??
Why arresting the buyer and not the illegal seller?
What about Lilongwe City Mayors House or something similar in the capital, was the sale in line with procedures?
How about illegal acquisition of TCC houses by Dausi and Nankhumwa?
GOOD Move. However, ACB and Martha Chizuma’s Ombusdman offices will only prove their honesty in this whole fight If they take on cases that have stalled for quite some time linked to some Tonse Alliance partners. E.g the cash gate among others. It would be wrong to.mention names of such suspects here but I guess we could do better. FYI, there is a perception in some quarters that Miss Chizuma is strongly using her privilege to fight personal battles due to the fact that Mr ….divorced her and went on to work with DPP at Statehouse. Since then, she became… Read more »
Kuganiza mw ubakha , kumeneko nkulu0
Inunso reasoning yanu nde zero pa ten
I won’t faulty your thinking. Maybe in the distant future humans will evolve to think like you.
Za zii
I find very little substance in the case. So instead of arresting the sellers why are you arresting the buyer? Could have arrested vuwa and chikweni and ask them how they sold the land. The buyer should only be refunded in full if you determine that the sale wasn’t properly made.
And also the 3 months delay between lease date and payment date is not material to the case. Acb director, why sink so low?
Don’t forget a Civil servant can be trusted by politicians who happen to be Ministers. That’s the whole thing here. Politicians.A Civil Servant was only forced by greedy politicians. How does one get a lease of a land before paying for it and how does a land belonging to a government department get sold to an Individual? In Mchesi yes. Those in Mchesi are plots already owned and have legal documents. The land in question is a government land. Let’s be serious here regardless of our political affiliation.
I agree with you 100%. The question is about whether he paid the money or not. the delay in payment comes secondary, hence not important. About the purchase, if he indeed influenced the officials then he has a case to answer for infulencing the bribe, even its a case he can easily win, even if he paid by cash or bank transfer.