Mphwiyo name not in cashgate report

Former Malawi budget director Paul Mphwiyo  who was shot outside his home  at the time he was a whistle blower to the corruption “cashgate” scandal, a systematic looting of public money, has not been fingered in an external forensic audit the Malawi government released on Thursday.

Gun-shot survivor Mphwiyo and his wife Thandizo were last Saturday arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau on charges of theft, money laundering and obstructing the course of justice.

His lawyers are convinced the arrest was the work of some “cashgate shenanigans” who have infiltrated ACB to discredit Mphwiyo who is the key witness in the heist.

Our sources in ACB have revealed, on condition of anonymity, that a cashgate related camp that was at the core of Mphwiyo’s shooting are the ones spinning the shots to ensure that Mphwiyo is branded as a masterminder of cashgate and not as the person who should be the hero for exposing cashgate.

To everybody’s surprise, the report into the 24 billion kwacha ($48 million) of missing funds, handed to the government on Sept. 25, has not mentioned Mphwiyo in anyway.

Malawians are beginning to wonder how and why the name that was central to cashgate has not featured in any way directly.

It is now believed that some compromised officers in ACB, under the influence of the mentioned cashgaters, are trying to connect the youthful Ivy League Graduate and technocrat to the infamous cashgate scandal in a bid to silence him.

According to Nyasa Times investigations, there are still frantic attempts to connect Mphwiyo and his family indirectly to cashgate against expert advice that it is almost impossible to connect the technocrat to the same.

The report shows that amounts were paid for goods and services that were allegedly never delivered. The document covers April 1, 2013, to Sept. 30, 2013, and details instances of inflated procurement prices and overpayments.

According to the report by London-based Baker Tilly Ltd., people including former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Raphael Kasambara, Oswald Lutepo and others who are also answering charges on conspirancy to murder and attempted to murder Mphwiyo were allegedly involved in some of the deals.  They deny any wrongdoing.

Earlier this month, Treza Namathanga Senzani became the first Cashgate suspect to be imprisoned by the Lilongwe High Court for three years.

Senzani pleaded guilty and has said she won’t appeal her sentence.