Mkaka now among top cash-rich Malawi ministers: Admits purchase of K45m Merc’ Benz car, justifies not moving into govt house

Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Eisenhower Mkaka  is reported to have amassed more wealth   and is amongst top richest ministers in the cabinet of President Lazarus Chakwera  giving him more political stamina to hold the balance of power  as he has   declined to move into official ministerial house  whereby now he  receives monthly rentals from government at  a “lower rate” for staying in his personal “clean” house.

Mkaka took trouble to prove his innocence and clear his name over queries about his sudden wealth that he bought a Mercedes Benz days after he was appointed Cabinet minister.

He admitted to have bought a top of the range Benz at nearly K45 million from United Kingdom, the second motor vehicle to be purchased by the minister since getting in power in June, according to Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA).

The minister declined to have been in any wrongful self-enrichment challenged those with evidence to report him to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) or Malawi Police.

“I am not corrupt and never will be, and I want to assure all Malawians of goodwill that I will never let them down in any way.

“It is true that I have bought a Mercedes Benz, but it is not brand new, it is second hand. I bought it for GBP45,000, which roughly translates to K45 million (all costs inclusive), and not K72 million as alleged,” he claims.

According to Mkaka, the vehicle was ordered on 5 July, three days before he was hired as Cabinet Minister and on 14 July, he wrote the tax collecting body MRA to ask for duty-free clearance.

The vehicle is among items and all assets he declared to the Office of the Director of Public Officers’ Declarations.

Mkaka, who is also the Secretary General for Malawi Congress Party (MCP), said apart from the compensation he got from First Capital Bank after winning a court case against the bank, he has several sources of income which enabled him to afford this car.

He further disclosed that his 345 square meter house sitting on Plot number 47/1/320 was constructed in 2010 while working at the First Capital Bank, formerly First Merchant Bank and at the time, it was estimated the house would cost US$300, 000 to construct.

“I have not moved into official ministerial house by choice and government is paying me rental; of course, at a rate much lower than that government pays if they rent a house on their own.

“It is a clean house built much way before I started politics,” said Mkaka.

He therefore described the allegations as unfounded and fabricated to furnish his image.

Mkaka wrote on his official Facebook page to deny that he is corrupt.

He therefore urged people to stop spreading lies, observing it was high time people started using the Access to Information Act to establish the truth on any matter than just peddling lies and damaging allegations.

Recently, Member of Parliament for Mzimba North Yeremiya Chihana (Alliance for Democracy-Aford) made allegations that some officials in the President Chakwera administration were corrupt, receiving money from some Malawian businesspersons of Asian descent.

He was stampeded by MCP legislators to sweep the matter under the carpet.

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