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.