Following an indictment over government contracts that has implicated several senior government officials, Malawi’s President, Lazarus Chakwera has stripped his Vice President, Saulos Chilima of all delegated powers.
The president made the decision known in a televised address. “I have decided to withdraw all delegated functions” from Vice President Saulos Chilima. President Chakwera said.
He also suspended his chief of staff and the country’s police chief.
“In addition, the Bureau found that 31 other people from the private sector, the media, civil society and the legal profession also received money from Mr. Sattar,” bringing the total to 84 people suspected of being involved, he added.
A new report investigating British-Malawian businessman Zuneth Sattar on suspicion of corruption, fraud and money laundering by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), shows that several ministers and former ministers have already been arrested in connection with the case.
“The office found that a total of 53 public officials and former public officials allegedly received money from Mr Sattar in the eight months between March and October 2021,” Chakwera said.
Malawi has lost lots of public funds to private individuals who, in the end, invest it into their private enterprises. Thus disrupting availability of funds for the country’s development agenda.
The corruption watchdog Transparency International ranked Malawi 110th out of 180 countries in public sector corruption in 2020, scoring 30 out of 100 points on the global Corruption Perceptions Index.