DURBAN – PRESIDENT Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi is saddled corruption scandals, allegations of theft and lawlessness which Malawians now say presents a leadership crisis that contrasts with his predecessor. But Chakwera is trying to resuscitate his troubled image and be seen to be fighting corruption by accusing his predecessor, which Malawians say is political persecution.
The latest show of lawlessness is a scandal in which the presidency smuggled a law into parliament without following procedures.
Chakwera has fired his Special Advisor, Martin Thom for allegedly failing to smuggle into Parliament a bill for loan approval of K98 billion Kwachas with the Bank of Baroda.
According to sources, Thom was supposed to ensure that bill was presented and approved last month but failed after the Minister of Justice, and all government officials and parliamentarians denied knowledge of the said Bill. It is alleged that only Chakwera and the Minister of Homeland Security Richard Chimwendo Banda knew about the Bill because the money was to be used for building houses for law enforcement agencies.
Parliamentarians apparently blocked the Bill because it was viewed as an act of corruption would have committed the country to a K93-billion Kwachas (EUR 93m) debt through unscrupulous means. However, Chakwera apparently had none of that and turned to his advisor for failing to ensure that the Bill was tabled and approved.
The copy of the press release by the Director of Communications Sean Tsanzo Kampondeni on Tuesday which the Daily News has seen reads: His Excellency, Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, President of the Republic of Malawi has terminated the services of his Special Advisor on Special Duties, Mr Martin Thom, with immediate effect. The decision was made once the President established Thom’s unsanctioned role in the irregular submission of a loan authorisation bill to Parliament.
In the copy of the Bill which the Daily News has also seen, it seeks to authorise the Minister of Finance, on behalf of government to borrow 98 360 000 euros, which is calculated at K98 billion after conversion to Malawian currency of Kwachas. It further said government would build 3 253 housing units for police, army and prison officers.
Meanwhile, Chakwera’s government has allegedly frozen the bank account of former president Peter Mutharika after he was allegedly involved in the importation of cement.
In a statement released by Mutharika this week, in August last year he was questioned by fiscal police over the use of a personal tax identification number to import cement while he was still president. He said he responded and denied his involvement in the importation of cement but government decided to freeze his account for almost a year now, without charging him.
“You continued to keep accounts frozen and I was not allowed to access the accounts even for my reasonable living expenses or to pay my bills. I was neither charged nor informed by the ACB why your institution subjected me to this kind of treatment. In my view, all this is a sustained political witch hunt by a State institution. If I, as a former head of state must be called to answer for these questions, then fairness demands that every previous president and vice president still living must be called to explain how their TPIN had been used,” read Mutharika’s statement.
Daily News