Mutharika hits back at Joyce Banda on ‘corruption’ accusations
President Peter Mutharika on Wednesday went to town to rap his predecessor Joyce Banda to return home other than continue to live in self-imposed exile since her defeat to Mutharika and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the May 20 2014 Tripartite Elections and making disparaging comments against DPP administration.
Mutharika said Banda should come home and appreciate what his administration has done to seal ‘cashgate’ loopholes in government where there is no more embezzlement of public funds.
“Muwauze aja anaba ndikuthawa dziko lino kuti abwere. Last week amanena kuti zinthu zatikanika, chakanika ndi chani? … asiye kuyakhula zachipongwe kwambiri (Tell that person who cashgate public money and fled the country to come back. Last week, she said things are not working out but what has failed? She should stop the nonsense of making allegations),” said Mutharika.
Banda branded the administration of her successor and bitter political rival Mutharika as “deeply corrupt” and incompetent.
The immediate past president expressed her sentiments to members of her People’s Party (PP) through a teleconference whose leaked audio went viral on social media.
In the recording, Banda—who ascended to the presidency on April 7 2012 in line with constitutional order after the death of President Bingu wa Mutharika—also vowed to return home, but fell short of giving her timeframe for the return home.
In the audio recording, whose date could not be confirmed, Banda started the teleconference by shouting her party’s slogan before greeting the party cadres at a unconfirmed venue.
She said she was disheartened by the failure of the DPP administration to tackle worsening corruption and food insecurity.
She said: “Katangale ali tho tho tho! Kuba ku chipatala, kuba ku Tevet. Kuba ku Escom. Kuba ku water board. Anthu kusowa madzi kusowa magetsi. Anthu akupezeka ndizindalama mmanyumba tho tho tho. Kuwotcha ma office mkati. Koma lero People’s Party ndiye chipani chimene achipezelera kuti adzichiseweretsa kumazunza atsogeleri ake. [Corruption is deeply entrenched. They are stealing from hospitals, Tevet, Escom; they are stealing from water boards. People have no electricity; no water. People are being found with huge sums of money stashed in their homes. Yet, at the end of the day, the People’s Party and its leadership are the punch bags].
But President Mutharika, who spoke at the opening of the Malawi International Trade Fair in Blantyre on Wednesday, said his government has done a lot to clean the rot left by his predecessor.
The ‘Cashgate’ scandal engulfing Malawi, known as Cashgate, has dire implications for its economy. The European Union and other donor nations suspended direct aid to the government.
About 40 per cent of Malawi’s budget came from overseas aid payments and paid the wages of 170,000 public servants, army and police.
Mutharika claims his administration is now winning back donor confidence.
The so-called Cashgate scandal first came to light following the near-fatal shooting of the Malawian budget director, Paul Mphwiyo who is thought to have been about to blow the whistle on the scam.
Mphwiyo is also being prosecuted on ‘cashgate’ related charges.
In the police raids that followed, civil servants were discovered with thousands of dollars stashed in their car boots and at their homes.
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