Politics

In Malawi, alleged $3.9m bribe hunts Mutharika’s presidency

The pressure to see off Malawi’s President, Peter Mutharika, from office is gathering momentum. The springboard for the unrest is a food scandal in which Mutharika’s name has been mentioned

Published

6 years ago

July 6, 2018

Africa News Watch

The pressure to see off Malawi’s President, Peter Mutharika, from office is gathering momentum. The springboard for the unrest is a food scandal in which Mutharika’s name has been mentioned.

A leaked report by the country’s anti-graft agency had accused him of receiving a kickback from a 2.8bn kwacha ($3.9m; £2.8m) contract to supply food to the police.

The report claims a businessman deposited 145m kwacha into an account belonging to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), of which the president is the sole signatory.

The president’s spokesperson said the claims were “unfounded” and that Mr Mutharika had done nothing wrong. Civil rights organisations have nonetheless given him 14 days to resign, or say they will take to the streets.

The political standoff began after a report by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) leaked onto the internet in the last week of June.

The body has been investigating a Malawi police food supply contract, worth around 2.8bn kwacha, that was awarded to a firm owned by businessman Zameer Karim, called Pioneer Investments.

The report alleges that the head of finance of Malawi’s police, Innocent Bottomani, and Mr Karim had “connived” to award Pioneer Investment a contract to provide 500,000 food ration packs.

Days after the contract was signed, Pioneer Investment allegedly asked for a change to the agreed price from 2.3bn kwacha to nearly 2.8bn – the report says the change was fraudulently approved by Mr Bottomani.

When Mr Karim was paid for supplying the food ration packs in 2016, he allegedly deposited 145m kwacha into a DPP bank account that is reportedly managed by President Mutharika.

Both Mr Karim and Mr Bottomani have denied involvement in the alleged fraud.

The president initially called the report “fake news” and a ploy by his detractors to scupper his chances at next year’s elections.

“I did not personally benefit in any way from the contract and that’s why I am concerned about the lack of truth. I am worried about what our country has become in as far as peddling of fake news on social media is concerned,” President Mutharika told Reuters.

His office later acknowledged the existence of the DPP bank account on 1 July, telling the Malawi newspaper The Daily Times that the account was set up only to support the party’s fundraising activities.

President Mutharika has been defiant in the face of mounting criticism. He told a DPP party congress that he was not running for “personal gain”.
“I only get 40% from my [monthly] salary of 2.7 million kwacha and the rest goes to government.”

Various civil society groups, the opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP), and the quasi-religious body, the Public Affairs Committee (PAC), have called for his resignation.

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Politics

US requests probe into murders of two Mozambique opposition figures

Published

16 hours ago

October 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The United States administration denounced the weekend deaths of two Mozambique opposition members, demanding a prompt and comprehensive inquiry ahead of protests against a disputed election outcome.

According to the US State Department website, the US is the largest bilateral donor to Mozambique, providing approximately $560 million annually in aid.

Washington, along with the EU and Portugal, condemned and demanded an investigation into the murders of opposition lawyer Elvino Dias and party official Paulo Guambe, who were shot in their car on Saturday.

“The United States condemns the killings of lawyer Elvino Dias and Podemos parliamentary candidate Paulo Guambe in Mozambique,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement.

“We join the calls made by all four of Mozambique’s national political parties in urging a swift and thorough investigation.”
In the capital Maputo, demonstrators gathering near the location where the two opposition party leaders were shot dead on Saturday following a contentious election were met with gunshots and tear gas by Mozambique police on Monday.

Early results from Mozambique’s general election on October 9 indicate that the ruling Frelimo party is projected to win again. The final results are anticipated this week. Candidates in opposition claim the poll was manipulated.

Since 1975, Frelimo has governed the southern African nation, and opposition leaders, civic society, and election monitors have accused him of electoral fraud. It refutes the accusations.

The State Department called on Mozambique’s political leaders, residents, stakeholders, and state institutions to settle electoral disputes legally and peacefully while avoiding inflammatory rhetoric and violence.

Politics

Again, Tunisian MPs want exclusive power of central bank over interest rates abolished

Published

3 days ago

October 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A measure by MPs on Friday indicated that the Tunisian central bank will no longer be the only entity able to alter interest rates or the country’s foreign exchange policy; rather, it will be permitted to finance the government.

President Kais Saied, who has maintained that the central bank shouldn’t be a state within a state, has continuously criticised the action, which is the most recent that will destroy the bank’s independence.

The current dire state of public finances prompts the possible significant amendment to the central bank statute. The opposition has referred to Saied’s 2021 takeover of practically all power as a coup, and since then, the nation has been unable to obtain Western support. Saied ruled by decree.

If the bank law was not altered, 27 legislators issued a dire warning, stating that Tunisia would unavoidably go bankrupt.

They claimed that the state has suffered enormous losses, estimated at $36.6 billion, due to the present law passed in 2016 and prohibits the central bank from making direct bond purchases or loans to the public treasury.

Additionally, the measure suggests that the president must give his or her consent before the bank can make agreements with international supervisory bodies.

Saied said the central bank should lend directly to the state treasury rather than through expensive bank loans, rejecting the central bank’s independence last year.

To close a budget deficit, the administration requested in January that the central bank give the Treasury $2.25 billion in direct funding.

Marouan Abassi, the former governor of the central bank, has cautioned that purchasing Treasury bonds carries risks, such as increasing inflation and depreciating the value of the Tunisian pound. Saied replaced Abassi with Zouhair Nouri earlier this year.

The central bank has had total authority over reserves, gold, and monetary policy since 2016. However, the proposed statute demonstrated that the central bank might modify exchange rates, gold-related operations, and interest rates after consulting with the government.

The bill permits the central bank to purchase government bonds from banks and lend directly to the government up to 3% of GDP for bonds that have maturities longer than five years.

According to financial sources, the action will probably open the door for a fresh government request that the central bank grant the government loans and direct facilities totalling up to $2.6 billion.