Mutharika challenges Malawi Parliament to probe Bingu wealth: ‘You will find nothing on corruption, Joyce Banda and Kasambara failed’
President Peter Mutharika has angrily challenged Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament to go ahead and investigate the K61 billion wealth of former president Bingu wa Mutharika, the late brother to the president, saying their probe will yield nothing in relation to corruption.
The committee vowed to investigate allegations that part of the late Bingu’s riches were illegally obtained and that he stashed some money in foreign bank accounts.
PAC chairperson Alekeni Menyani confirmed they are pursuing the matter and will even engage Transparency International, a global corruption watchdog.
But President Mutharika on Wednesday called the probe a political tactics to torment his family.
He said the investigations into late brother Bingu wa Mutharika was launched by former president Joyce Banda and the then Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Ralph Kasambara SC – currently imprisoned on conspiracy to commit murder.
According to Mutharika the investigation carried by the Banda administration yielded nothing.
“Mr Ralph Kasambara and Joyce Banda they searched all over the world, they found nothing,” said Mutharika in an angrily tonne.
He told the parliamentary oversight committee to “go ahead “with the investigation, saying “you will find nothing.”
Said Mutharika: “Investigate or shut up.”
He added: “Stop torturing my late brother and my family. Go ahead to investigate and you will be ashamed you will find nothing.”
Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) director general Lucas Kondowe said indeed the bureau instituted investigations into Mutharika’s wealth but it did not yield “any results requiring following up as of now.”
Kondowe said: “The ACB did institute an inquiry into the alleged accumulation of wealth of the former president (Bingu wa Mutharika) through an international inquiry using international requests for information and that inquiry has not yielded any results requiring following up as of now.”
President Mutharika also challenged that they can include him in the investigation on corruption allegations and they will not find and cashgate footprints.
Member of Parliament (MP) for Mzimba West Harry Mkandawire (People’s Party-PP) raised the issue of Mutharika’s wealth in the National Assembly.
Late Mutharika’s wealth was established by YMW Property Investment Limited after his death in 2012, and has become talk of scrutiny as Mutharika had declared his wealth to be about K150 million ($209 790) in assets both in Malawi and Zimbabwe.
Mutharika deposited the records with Parliament in August, 2004.
After seven years at the helm of government, he was a proud owner of farms in Kasungu, Salima, Mitundu- Bunda, and the most famed glamorous Ndata Estate. This is apart from real estates in Lilongwe and Blantyre including one brought from former president Bakili Muluzi.
Mutharika reportedly also owned a hotel, a villa and a yatch in Portugal. He was also founder and chairman of the Bineth Trust and the Bingu Silver-grey Foundation. He is also the founder of the Malawi University of Science and Technology on his Ndata estate land.
There have allegations by opposition politicians that funds stashed in offshore accounts belonging to the ex-president – part of it was illegally obtained – and should be brought back and utilised towards recovering the country’s ailing economy.
PAC Vice-chairperson Kamlepo Kalua said they want to trace the money to the countries where the accounts are held and then probe the source of that money as well as probe into Mutharika’s local business interests.
Malawi Law Society (MLS) backed calls for a probe into former president Mutharika’s billions.
John Suzi Banda, MLS President, said that citizens of the southern African country had a right to know if money was looted during Mutharika’s tenure as president from 2004 until his sudden death in 2012.
MP Mkandawire, while presenting copies of a document containing allegations regarding Mutharika’s accumulated wealth, blew the whistle on Portuguese multidisciplinary engineering group Mota Engil that it has been front runners in providing bribes to grease the wheels of government contracts.
He highlighted that some of his money was accumulated through inducements from Mota Engil.
Mota Engil made separate cheque payments to the late president wa Mutharika personal accounts at some commercial banks from as low as K1 million (about $4 000) to as high as K10 million (about $40 000) at a time.
Among others, Mota-Engil made the cheque deposits into the late president’s personal bank account number 0140001886701 at Capital City Branch of Standard Bank.
One cheque worth K10 million was deposited into Mutharika’s Standard Bank account number 0140001886701 on March 3 2010.
On the deposit slip, the depositor only identified himself as Mota-Engil, but the signature is the same as the one on an FMB cheque number 9480 belonging to Mota-Engil. The other signature on the three cheques is for managing director Antonmarco Zorzi.
The other two cheques are numbered 12570 (worth K2.5 million) and 12571 (worth K1 million). These cheques were written on March 24 2011.
The other two cheques are numbered 12570 (worth K2.5 million) and 12571 (worth K1 million). These cheques were written on March 24 2011.
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THATS MALAWI I KNOW
ROTTEN FROM HEAD TO
TAIL
BUT GOD IS WATCHING
Malawians, let’s wake up and tie the presidency to the genuine fight against corruption.
It’s obvious, the current president is muddled in the vice. How can he fight himself?
He got the presidency from the backdoor by the help of corruption.
He eats corruption, he sleeps corruption, he rants corruption, he sees corruption and he dreams of more corruption.
That’s false confidence hiding behind the stolen presidency. Rantings of a failed leader. When Bingu died, JB took over Bingu’s entourage. No wonder, so many corruption cases that were started by her have since been dropped or abandoned. The 2014 elections were rigged big time with the help of the judicially. A lot of them are corrupt and any change of govt would expose them. For your information, malawians cast their votes wishing to put in office a new face, who rould really conclude K577bn cashgate. The truth is that, as far as we’ve APM as president, we will never… Read more »
If one open eyes, surely will see hatred and envy. Something’s are personal indeed. JB had all the resources and power at her disposal. She applied all the means to turnush the image of her opponents especially this DPP. One of the weapons she used was this. I honestly have no wisdom to paint DPP clean but i am sure the more JB painted Bingu black, the peter turned yellow towards white. Take it or not, Peter came out as clean as fish from the pond. He won. JB had all you can want to pin peter down like a… Read more »
I THINK PETER AND JUDGE HAS SOMETHING TO EXPLAIN ON RULE OF
KASAMBALA’S CASE.IT SHOWS IT IS BASED ON REVENGE,WHY DOING
THIS YOU COURT JUDGE ARE YOU A POLITICIAN? THANKS TO YOU PETER
FOR YOUR CONFESSION THE HELL IS WAITING FOR YOU.BEYOND THAT DO NOT COME TO NORTH AGAIN
olira somugwira pakwamwa, Mr president don’t be busy with these opposition people. they are getting some thing from there leaders.
Kulankhula kwa ndithendirhe.. Sign the ATI then zioneka zokha. The West are ready to help give information.
Malawians I told you that you will cry Koto Koto when you allowed DPP to get away with stolen election. You they are good at covering Evil deeds MBENDELA is dead one many others have died and others will follow.
Now if nothing is done expect 2019 kuti DPP will steal the election big time.
1 let me tell you that funds have been transferred to other bank accounts and the original accounts have been closed. A MAlawi kupusa it took you so long to start the investigation. When Petala is making that noise Kamlepo and others who are persuing this issue be care full or you will have car accident or food poisoning. It also happen that one of you will betray the group atalandila ma scono ndi ma fezesi
That kind of confidence by APM on this matter should be taken seriously, because it is NOT empty; especially coming from a learned man. The man is now showing some legal (professorial) swagger; and it’s about time. Why would anyone go out on a limb like this if they feared exposure, humiliation, prosecution, or even worse, persecution. And, we have been on this route, SEROUSLY, and found nothing. Only a foolish person would come back to throw his fishing line in the same pond he knows there are absolutely no fish. But Joisi Banda’s regime, and now it’s remnants like… Read more »