VP Kachali snubs Malawi Law Society, CSOs call on ‘cashgate’ action
Malawi’s vice president Khumbo Kachali has snubbed calls by the opposition political parties to have President Joyce Banda cut short his visit in United States and come back home to attend to a ‘crisis’ facing the country in which civil servants at the Capital Hill have gone on rampage looting money from government coffers with some being arrested.
Six government employees have so far been arrested in what is known as cash-gate scandal after found with millions of unexplained amount of money is their cars and homes.Media reports have put the total amount of money so far pilfered from public purse in the months of September and October at K1.2 billion.
Speaking during the Tiuzeni Zoona program on a privately owned Zodiak Broadcasting Service, Kachale described the calls as political.
“These people are making such remarks because they want to be in government. So what I can ask them is that we should work hand in hand to root out corruption not making political ideas that would please themselves,” he said.
Kachale said the continued arrest of those involved in the public funds looting does not mean that the country is in crisis but it simply shows the fruits of President Banda’s pledge of rooting out corruption.
“President Joyce Banda has been saying that her government will do what it can to deal with those involved in corruption and this is what we are doing now. We couldn’t have exposed this if we were not into ant-corruption drive,” he said.
He pledged that there will be no sacred cows in the fight.
Kachale also spoke against the calls for resignation of some top government officials including the Accountant General, Finance Minister and Chief Secretary to the State who are accused of abating or giving blind eye to corruption.
“Does it mean once they resign, people will stop stealing…? The issue here is to find ways of curbing theft and to find ways to ensure that this does not happen again. The solution should not be calling for someone to resign unless they are involved. We cannot act upon the call of opposition leaders,” said Kachale.
Reacting to a 30-day ultimatum given by the Civil Society Organisations, Kachale asked the CSOs to instead assist the government in rooting out corruption.
Meanwhile the Malawi Law Society of Malawi (MLS) has asked the government to suspend or interdict public officers involved in looting at Capital Hill.
In a statement president of the MLS Mandala Mambulasa says the suspects should be banned from going to the offices and travelling outside the country until the investigations are over.
He also expressed the need for the government to rotate officials to the different high ranking positions to avoid sitting on evidence in the ongoing corruption cases.
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