The Constitutional Court sitting in Blantyre has scheduled June 2025 for the commencement of hearings in an application filed by former Vice President Cassim Chilumpha in relation to his long-standing treason case.

Chilumpha is accused of conspiring to assassinate former President Bingu wa Mutharika, a case that dates back nearly two decades. The matter was referred to the Constitutional Court after Chilumpha’s legal team challenged the prolonged delay of the case.

His lawyer, Kalekeni Kaphale, has asked the court to determine whether the delay in prosecuting the case is reasonable and whether it infringes upon Chilumpha’s constitutional right to a fair and timely trial.

At a scheduling conference held today, a panel of three constitutional judges—Justus Kishindo, Charlotte Malonda, and Bruno Kalemba—directed both the defense and the state to file their skeleton arguments within 14 days.

The matter will return to court on June 10, 2025, for a pre-trial conference, with the actual hearing of the constitutional application set to begin on June 17, 2025.

Source: Times 360 Malawi

Malawi’s state owned Presidential Jet was not sold as the country’s population was made to believe. The nation’s pride is in fact on a lease agreement between acting President Joyce Hilda Mtila Banda and the controversial South African based arms dealer, Ivor Ichokowitz we can confidently reveal.

According to the agreement between Mrs Banda and Mr Ichikowitz, the interim Malawian leader receives US$100,000 from Paramount Group of Companies, the alleged ‘buyer’ of the plane.

Paramount Group of Company is a conglomerate owned by the Ichikowitz family whose subsidiary company, Bohnox Enterprises, a firm registered in the British Virgin Islands allegedly bought the plane.

However, we have established that Malawi’s Presidential Jet a Dassault Falcon 900EX is currently in South Africa hired out to VIPs by the jet company Fortune Air, another of Paramount Group of Companies associates.

LEASE BENEFITS FOR MRS JOYCE BANDA

We have established interim Malawi President Mrs Joyce Banda gets US$100,000 every month for leasing out the plane to Paramount Group.
On the night on the 15th/16th March, 2014, Ahmed Kassam a British national travelling on Personal Passport Number; 503403843 landed here in Malawi at Chileka International Airport in a charted jet from Abuja, a Hawker 2 Bravo with South African registration number ZS-CAG.

He had just met Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan before flying into Malawi.

His pilot was Captain Riccardo Talevi who was assisted by his co-pilot Athas Karatzas.

Kassam, brought into the country supplies for rigging materials for the May 20th Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections.

We also further established that apart from delivering the said materials, he also brought cash into the country.

The money was interim President Joyce Hilda Mtila Banda’s cut from the Malawi Presidential Jet ‘sales’.

We revealed that at least 3 of the 7 boxes that were offloaded from the charted private jet that landed at Chileka International Airport in the awe hours of that Sunday, contained crispy notes of United States Dollars.

We have since established the money contained in those boxes was US$300,000 for Mrs Banda’s monthly cuts of US$100,000 each for January, February and March, 2014.

The boxes also contained some additional cash amount from Mr Ivor Ichikowitz as part of his personal contributions towards Mrs Banda’s political campaign.

According to our State House sources, Mrs Banda had not collected her cut for the above listed months. The last time she got cash from Ivor Ichikowitz was in December, 2013 when she had gone to South Africa during the funeral of former South African icon, late Nelson Mandela.

Following the landing of the jet at Chileka Aiport at night, a Limbe based Malawian of Asian origin (name withheld) has confirmed having changed huge sums of dollars into Malawi Kwacha on more than 3 occasions now for the acting Malawian leader.

USE OF THE PRESIDENTIAL JET

Last year, acting President Joyce Hilda Mtila Banda was discovered to have been using Malawi Government money chartering the very same Presidential Jet that the government allegedly sold. The plane was re-branded and registered as ZS-FC1.

This was in fact, a ploy by Mrs Banda to milk the Malawi Government money with the full knowledge that the money was getting into her pockets through these monthly cuts we have established.

In February this year, one of interim President Joyce Banda’s sons Roy Kachale flew to the People’s Republic of China on the same Presidential Jet from South Africa for shopping with a girlfriend.

The Jet, a Dassault Falcon 900 EX was bought by the administration of late President Bingu Wa Mutharika at US$22 million and allegedly ‘sold’ by acting leader Mrs Banda at US$15 million to her South African based crooked businessman, Ivor Ichokowitz. According to Malawi’s Finance Minister Dr Maxwell Mkwezalamba, no single penny of the supposedly ‘sold’ plane reached the Malawi Government coffers.

Malawi Vice President Khumbo Kachali says he keeps his fingers crossed that President Joyce Banda will pick him as her running mate in the next year’s elections on ruling People’s Party (PP) ticket.

PP became the de facto ruling party following the death of President Bingu wa Mutharika in April 2012. President Banda appointed Kachali to the post of vice president when she ascended to the top post.

However, President Banda who is a candidate for PP in the presidential race would have to select a running mate who in turn would be her vice president beyond 2014.

There have been many questions on whether President Banda would retain Kachali or choose another person. Questions have been raised following the buttered image the Vice President has had following a public outcry against his order to transfer beds from Mponela Rural Hospital in the central region his northern region home of Mzimba where there was campaign for two parliamentary by-elections.

Kachali also courted controversy when he shot back to critics of President Banda’s numerous travels that the President does not go to their mother’s homes and there is no need for anyone to be complaining.

There were also fears of corrupt practices when he was serving as Minister of Health until President Banda took away that ministerial portfolio from him and cancelled all drug orders make during his tenure.

Asked when he was featured on Zodiak Broadcasting Services interview program Tiuzeni Zoona on Sunday on whether he thinks President Banda will pick him as her running mate, Kachali expressed the hope he will be but nonetheless said it was the President’s prerogative.

“The right to pick a running mate rests with the presidential candidate so it’s not up to me to say if I will be running mate or not,” said Kachali.

“All I know is that in 2014 PP is winning the elections hands-down,” said Kachali.

The interview host Pilirani Phiri further pinned Kachali to comment if he thinks he is the right material to be running mate.

He responded: “I am not the right person to answer that question. The presidential candidate is the one who decides who to pick.”

But put to him what he will do if President Banda decided to snub him and choose another vice presidential candidate, Kachali was non-committal to say his feeling to such a scenario waiting to” cross the bridge” first.

The Vice President also pointed out that he regrets the Mponela beds scandal, accepting whole responsibility as it happened when he was Minister of Health.

“I accept it happened when I was a minister of health,” he said. “It happened, lessons were learnt.”

Kachali’s decision to snatch beds in Mponela; leaving patients languishing on the floor, attracted protests from Mponela residents and several groups, including the Parliamentary Women Caucus.

Apart from Mponela Rural Hospital, with orders from Kachali, government also removed 12 beds from Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) and transferred them to Mzimba.

The beds were reportedly sent to Euthini Health Centre in Mzimba Central and the yet-to-be completed Edingeni Health Centre in Mzimba South West.

Kachali also made headlines for wrong reasons when he officially opened a multimillion telecentre at Lupaso on Karonga attacking critics of President Banda n frequent travels, saying: “As long as we are serving, we will never stop visiting you Malawians, anywhere where chiefs want us to go, we will be there.

“They say, ‘you are travelling excessively’; do we travel to your mothers’ homes? Aaah! The president is travelling too much. The president and her Vice are always together. Did you want them to be sitting in your mother and father’s homes? Do you want your mothers and fathers to be the ones travelling? Shame on you!”

Asked to comment on that, Kachali told the radio he apologized and unconditionally withdrew the unfortunate remarks, saying it is a closed chapter.

Malawi’s Human Rights Consultative Committee has added voice on calls for President Joyce Banda to consider respecting human rights and freedom of the press.

In an open letter to the president on May 3 – World Press Free – HRCC said there have been a crack-down of fundamental human rights particularly on freedom of expression in the country over the recent past.

HRCC has since called on the president to consider signing the Declaration of Table Mountain which calls on African governments to abolish bad laws that impinge media freedom.

“We were appalled to learn that you (the president) had stopped reading Malawian newspapers because they are full of hatred towards you and could kill you the way they did with late President Bingu wa Mutharika,” reads the letter adding:

“If what the media reported is what was said then we fear for freedom of expression and the media in this country.”

The human rights watchdog expressed concern  on the attitude of president Banda saying “we are so disturbed because we do not know what the consequences of a media that kills would be.

Meanwhile, the European Union has said a free media is indispensable in a democracy.

A statement from the EU said  the union is committed to fighting for press freedom and condemns any violence or intimidation on the media.

The NGO Board of Malawi has said over 5,000 organisations plying their trade as NGOs in the country are operating illegally as they are not registered with it.

NGO Board of Malawi chairperson Emily Banda said this in an interview.

The NGO board is conducting awareness campaigns targeting NGOs and district council executive members on the laws that govern NGO work in the country.

She said many organisations claim to be  NGOs are either Community Based Organisation, Trustees or companies.

According to Banda, NGOs are those only registered with her board, adding that so far only 247 NGOs are legally recognized in Malawi under the NGO act.

She said out of the 5000, around 580 organisations are registered with the Council for non-governmental organisations (CONGOMA).

Banda said membership with CONGOMA does not guarntee an organisation to be called an NGO.

”There is an influx of CBOs, Trustees and companies calling themselves NGOs in the country but without clear objectives and plans to helping the communities they are serving simply because they are members of CONGOMA,” she said

She said many of these organisations are getting funding from donors but the communities are benefiting nothing from the funds and have no clear scope of work, catchment areas and objectives.

”We want to bring sanity in the way organisations work. As a board mandated to register and regulate NGOs work in the country, we have set June 30th as deadline for all organisations to register with the board,” said Banda.

The NGO board had been at loggerhead with CONGOMA especially during the reign of late president Bingu wa Mutharika where they NGO board was seen as suppressing NGOs that were critical of Mutharika.

During the last months of the term of President Bingu wa Mutharika a political and economic mismanagement, centered on the myth of self-sufficiency and tinged with authoritarian temptations, had led to the separation between the international donors and the lack of some essential goods, including gasoline . A year ago, access to the presidency of Joyce Banda had raised high hopes profound and positive changes. 

The President Banda has moved in effect in the sense of a progressive political and economic liberalization, and has re-established relations with traditional lenders of Malawi, but to satisfy the international community – whose support covers about 40% of the state budget – also gave the go-measures guided by the severity, as well as a sharp devaluation of the kwacha, the local currency. latter decision triggered a ‘runaway inflation . All that is imported from abroad, such as gasoline, or bread, or rice, has known significant increases.But, consequently, local products, such as corn, have begun to commercializzarsi at prices far higher: the sack of corn from 50 kg, bought a year ago to 3,000 kwacha (about € 6), is now on sale at market for 10,000 kwacha (about 20 euro). 

You can imagine the impact of this on family budgets have already been tested on a society still deeply rural.Especially since the price increase was not accompanied with a review of wage trends. That is why, since the beginning of the Civil Servants Trade Union, the union of civil servants, has organized several protest demonstrations, and strikes that paralyzed the country: schools, hospitals, airports were closed for a long time, or have worked in fits and starts. The strikers were demanding a 65% increase in the basic salary, and eventually the government relented, promising an adjustment a little less. 

E ‘in this scenario difficult, and in rapid evolution, while increasing the number of poor and the despair of the people, as hopes alimentatesi with the settlement of the first female president of the country seem to result in a profound disappointment that the community of Sant ‘Egidio of Malawi – a widespread presence, which covers the country’s major cities and many villages – have stepped up their commitment to the weaker sections of the population . 

Just two examples.

In some areas of Malawi (the south in particular) the effects of the economic crisis have been magnified by heavy rains in January and February. many houses were destroyed – the poorest, built with mud and thatched roof – as well as the harvest of corn, and just at a time, one that runs from Christmas to Easter, which in Malawi is called the “time of hunger,” one in which the stocks of maize are exhausted in waiting for the new crop of April …. Here, in this context, it was necessary to do something. Even within the limits of its possibilities the community of Mangochi has been busy arguing over who had suffered in the surrounding district. At the beginning of March, a large cargo of aid started from Mangochi to the village of Mpinganjira, the most affected. 

Not only in the south of Malawi Schools of Peace managed by Sant’Egidio are a point of reference for many children who are looking for friendship and the possibility of a different future.

Mawira is a village in Liwonde, away from the main road that connects the two real cities of Malawi, Lilongwe and Blantyre, and that is a bit ‘the backbone of the country. We are talking about an area near the border with Mozambique, and in the surrounding area there are many Malawians who decide to migrate across the border in search of work. So many children end up living with their mothers and nothing else, or with grandparents, or, completely alone , they become street children.

It was in this village, the Community has chosen to build a spacious and welcoming sign of hope for many children , because they do not find themselves more alone. Every week about 150 children will attend the School of Peace. , but also several elderly seeking shelter in the structure , not to be alone, to enjoy a space that speaks of a different horizon. 

This beautiful house of Sant’Egidio is no longer just a place of education, then, or accompanying, but also that ‘”tree” mentioned in the Gospel (Mt 13, 32) where “the birds of the air come and lodge” , a beautiful and friendly place to rediscover the serenity and confidence in the future that you have always needed, but especially in a time of difficulty and crisis .

The home for the children of Liwonde

Za Daniel Phiri Ndikumva Ndiiwe Mwina Unampatsa Ndiiwe Poti Ndiwe Pilirani Phiri…

Pilirani Phiri; “potsatira kutuluka kwa lipoti la imfa ya Bingu pali chyembekezo kuti inu a Kaliati muntha kumangidwa, muli ndi mantha??

Patricia Kaliati; “Ha, ha, ha, pilirani ine Patricia Kaliati mwana wa botomani ndilibe mantha.”

Pilirani Phiri; “komatu lipoti likusonyeza kuti mumafuna kulanda boma?”

Patricia Kaliati; ” Timafuna kulanda boma lake liti, popeza nthawi imeneyo panalibe amene analumbiritsidw ­a kuti akhale mtsogoleri koma inu muziopa mulungu.”

Pilirani Phiri; “Lipoti likunenanso kuti mamafuna kuti Peter wa mutharika kuti atenge mpando wautsogoleri wa dziko lino”

Patricia Kaliati; “ndichifukwa chake mulungu akukulangani, chimanga thumba limodzi K10,000 Simunati Mulungu azikulanganibe. ­”

Pilirani Phiri; “zinakhala bwanji kuti Bingu akhale Daniel Phiri pamene amapita naye kuchipatala ku South Africa, munabalalika kwambiri eti?”

Patricia Kaliati; “za Daniel Phiri ndikumva ndiiwe mwina unampatsa ndiiwe poti ndiwe pilirani Phiri.

After being silent for almost a year now, since the demise of late former president Professor Bingu Wa Mutharika, Democratic Progressive Party member of parliament for Zomba central constituency Yunus Mussa is back to his constituency. He has now embarked on a campaign to revive the party’s glory at the grassroots level.

Speaking when he addressed a crowd that gathered at Chinamwali catholic ground in the area, the former Minister of Works in DPP regime said he longs at strengthening the Party at the grassroot to maintain the seat come 2014.

“Since the death of the former President, a lot has happened like DPP members moving to other political parties, hence the need to strengthening the party in the zones” said Mussa.

The DPP legislator also refuted rumors that he plan not to contest for the seat during the 2014 elections, saying the voters are to decide.

Mussa further asked DPP members to be united and welcome everyone joining it and asked them to vote for the party’s presidential candidate during the 2014 elections.

During the rally, 56 people who claimed to have been UDF and PP followers announced their defection to the DPP.

Mussa dominated headlines in 2008 when he obtained a controversial injunction restraining the speaker of the National assembly from invoking section 65 of the country’s constitution to allow late former President Bingu Wa Mutharika finish his first term of office after he ditched the UDF in 2005.

Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) and the family of the late President Bingu wa Mutharika are tussling over K800,000 the Mutharikas are demanding as legal fees for a previous adjournment in their matter.

The tax collecting body sued the Mutharikas, through Tapiwa Mutharika, demanding customs duty on 41 vehicles the late Mutharika bought duty free while he was in power.

But when hearing in the matter failed to take place due to MRA’s unpreparedness on February 12 this year, Judge Joseph Manyungwa ordered the body to meet costs incurred by the Mutharikas seven days from that day.

The two parties, however, failed to agree on the amount until yesterday when the matter was scheduled for hearing again.

Mutharika’s lawyer Chancy Gondwe asked the court to guide the proceedings since MRA had not yet honoured the order.

But in response, MRA lawyer Christopher Likomwa told the court that much as the defendants were willing to pay the costs as ordered, the amount was on the higher side.

When it was clear that the two parties were failing to reach an agreeable amount, Manyungwa said the court could not accept to have its orders defied and proceeded with the hearing.

He, therefore, advised the concerned parties to involve the High Court Registrar to help assess the costs incurred as it was not the job of the judge to do so.

Apart from the unpaid costs, Gondwe also raised a concern that MRA served him with an affidavit in opposition late on Monday and needed time to prepare a response and supplement his initial skeletal arguments. MRA did not oppose the request.

Manyungwa, therefore, adjourned the hearing to next month with the hope that all these matters would be resolved before the next hearing.

During the last hearing, MRA had not yet filed an affidavit in opposition to the application, citing internal matters at the institution.

Manyungwa then rebuked MRA’s conduct in the matter, describing it as a “casual approach” to court proceedings as they were duly served with all the documents filed by the applicants by January 30, this year.

The dispute arose when MRA Commissioner General John Biziwick wrote the late Mutharika’s young brother, politician Peter Mutharika, demanding the said customs duty within 14 days.

But Tapiwa, in response, obtained an injunction restraining MRA from executing its decision, saying they have a constitutional right to property and freedom from arbitrary deprivation of property.

President Joyce Banda’s donation of maize to Malawi Police Service has angered some members of the service who feel were purposely blocked from receiving it.

The officers are questioning the justification behind the choice of lowest ranked police officers— constables and sergeants— to benefit from the President’s donations, leaving out others.

A police source in the Southern Region who attended a women’s welfare committee meeting, comprising police officers’ wives and women police officers, said they were told the gift was meant for the wives of police constables and sergeants only.

“We were told the gift has come as an appreciation for the good job the police have been doing. Why then, leaving out other police officers yet we work as a team?” the sources, said.

They further said the general feeling in the police is that hiking their salaries and honouring their unpaid allowances could have boosted their morale and not the little maize where each beneficiary is getting a minimum of five kilogrammes.

“If this was a salary hike, it could have been across the board and everyone would have been glad about it.

“If it were paying us allowances, which we were denied during the burial of the late former President Bingu wa Mutharika and during the People’s Party convention, we could have highly appreciated but not this selective donation,” the sources said.

National Police spokesperson Rhoda Manjolo on Wednesday confirmed the President donated the maize, but said it came with instructions to distribute it to junior police officers only.

“It is a personal gift from Her Excellency the President Mrs Joyce Banda to Women’s Welfare [in the police] and it was emphasised that only wives of police officers of lower ranks should benefit.

“And when we say junior officers in police we mean constables and sergeants. Therefore, no officer above this should cry foul of being left out,” Manjolo said.

Press Secretary to the President Steve Nhlane on Wednesday corroborated Manjolo’s statement, saying the maize was meant for lowly ranking police officers.

“The HE [Her Excellency President Joyce Banda] donated t h a t m a i z e t o t h e women’s welfare in the Malawi Police Service to give it to lower ranks like constables and sergeants.

“It is not possible logistically to donate to everyone in the police. That’s why the president has even been donating maize to [selected] vulnerable people in the society and not everyone,” Nhlane said.

He said the president’s gesture is just an extension to the donation of food relief she has been making to other vulnerable quarters identified by chiefs in conjunction with the the Department of Disaster Management Affairs.

He said this maize donation is, therefore, following the same procedure that those who get little should be beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, reports about the politicisation of President Banda’s maize are rife in Nkhata Bay where PP District Chairperson James Thawe Nkhata is said to have been distributing the maize to party loyalists and not the vulnerable.

Chairperson for Nkhata Bay Clergy Association Reverend Kamija Nyirenda said on Thursday the clergy have since pledged to work with traditional chiefs and the party for transparency’s sake, but said the party is refusing.

Nkhata and his party team snubbed an area development committee meeting summoned by Chief Nkumbira, yet issued orders to distribute just 329 bags out of the 600 bags.

Nkhata declined to comment on the matter when contacted on Thursday, saying he could only give a face to face interview.

However, PP Secretary General Henry Chibwana said he was aware of the issue and expressed concern that some people want to gain political mileage over the maize.

“ I would personally condone a situation where the vulnerable are cheated because somebody wants to fulfil his political ends. The maize is for the vulnerable regardless of one’s political affiliations,” Chibwana said.

Kenya President Kibaki arrived in Malawi for a three-day official visit where he is expected to discuss trade and bilateral ties with Malawi leader Joyce Banda.

Presidents Banda and Kibaki are also expected to discuss the reopening of Malawi High Commission office in Nairobi which was closed 10 years ago.

President Joyce Banda and Vice President Khumbo Kachale welcomed President Kibaki, the third African president to visit Malawi since Mrs Banda took over office.

The Kenyan leader, who addressed an impromptu press conference at the airport, said Malawi was a good friend of Kenya.

“You will come to know the reasons why I am in this country. We will keep you informed,” he said.

According to Steve Nhlane, the presidential spokesperson, President Kibaki is expected to lay a wreath at Malawi first president Hastings Kamuzu Banda’s mausoleum and also lay a foundation stone for a by-pass road.

Recently, President Banda announced plans by her government to reopen its high commission office in Nairobi as part of strengthening relations with Kenya.

The Malawi High Commission office was closed 10 year ago but property and structures remain intact

President Kibaki is a third African leader to visit Malawi after Nigeria’s Goodluck Jonathan and Benin President Yayi Boni.

The last time President Kibaki was in Malawi was during the funeral of President Bingu wa Mutharika in April 2012.

The $79 million imposing Malawi University of Science and Technology (Must), at Ndata in Thyolo, near the late President Bingu wa Mutharika’s opulent residence, is waiting for President Joyce Banda to assent to a Bill which Parliament passed during its last meeting last year.

The Bill puts in place legal instruments to facilitate creation of the University, a dream project of Mutharika, before the hand-over of the 3, 500 student bed infrastructure, built with Chinese grant, to the Malawi government.

Secretary for Education Responsible for Malawi Universities Development Programme, MacPhail Magwira, said this and delays experienced by the contractor to do final inner fittings has delayed the process where the Chinese government was expected to hand over the facility to Malawi government last month.

“As you must know the bill was passed and it is now awaiting presidential assent which will require that the current university council be dissolved and a new one put together,” said Magwira.

He also said the contractor delayed in completing the internal finishes as they were awaiting a consignment of some fittings.

“We hope that by mid January the handover will take place,” he said.

He said that the infrastructure is complete and all that is remaining among other things is the installation of chairs in an auditorium whose capacity is 2, 800 people.

He said at the moment they have received CVs of people who are interested to be in the council and teach at Must from the three public universities that include University of Malawi and Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources and are awaiting more from Mzuzu University.

“The team will set up the beginning of the University,” said Magwira.

The other gray area that was delaying the opening of the university was land ownership which was being facilitated to transfer from private hands to public.

Minister of Lands Duncan Phoya said in an interview recently that everything is being done to ensure that by the time of the hand-over, the transfer process from Bıneth Trust to the Malawi Government would have been completed.

“Let me take this opportunity to inform you that Bıneth Trust is being extremely co-operative in this regard as it is also their strong desire to see to it that the late President’s publicly declared wish is fulfilled,” Phoya said.

Education, Science and Technology Minister Kazembe presented Bill No. 31 of 2012: Malawi University of Science and Technology which was passed in the last sitting of Parliament.

“This Bill will particularly define the creation of the university council, appointment of principals, establishment of schools, colleges and faculties within the college,” Kazembe told Parliament last year.

The University, which was initially set to be built in Lilongwe before Mutharika shifted it to his home area, will have 3, 500 beds in eight hostels which will accommodate equal numbers of males and females.

While Malawi University of Science and Technology’s vision is to promote increased investment in human capital so as to turn Malawi into a scientific and industrial nation, its mission is to turn the country into a nation of achievers with the ability to develop, research, adapt and harness science and technology

The institution aims at assisting Malawi achieve a quantum leap in research, transmission and application of science and technology so as to bridge the gap between Africa and the industrialized world, and to empower Malawi and other African countries to contribute positively to global growth and development.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Malawi’s economy to grow by 5.5% this year, more than double the rate estimated for 2012, but slightly lower than the 5.7% the IMF had previously projected.

IMF head Christine Lagarde said a spike in inflation, lower-than-expected foreign exchange earnings and a drought that has cut into farm production have hurt the economy. But she was optimistic reforms would restore financial stability.

“Malawi has already made significant progress in addressing the serious imbalances that were hampering economic growth just a few months ago,” she said at the weekend, wrapping up a two-day visit to the country.

Malawi President Joyce Banda, who took office less than a year ago, has been trying to rebuild an economy sent into a tailspin by her predecessor, but prices have soared since she devalued the currency on IMF advice.

Lagarde said investors were set to return and inflation, running at about 33% in December, was poised to drop this year because of Banda’s economic policies.

“Following these reforms, the economic wheels started spinning again,” Lagarde said, urging the country to stay on course.

But many economists do not share her optimism, saying the drought has severely damaged the maize crop while earnings from tobacco, a major source of hard currency for the destitute country, have dropped by more than 50% since 2010.

The economy of the aid-dependent country had been teetering under former President Bingu wa Mutharika, who picked fights with donors. The cut in aid, which has traditionally accounted for 40% of the budget, coincided with a steady decline in tobacco sales.

Banda, who took office in April 2012 after Mutharika died of a heart attack, has restored aid flows, but soaring commodity prices have made her unpopular, pushing inflation to 33.3% in December, far higher than the forecast of around 18% for 2012.

Malawi government’s K72 billion unpaid bill to the private sector is one of the major causes of the current liquidity shortage hitting the country’s financial system, business leaders and captains have said.

Industry captains also say the arrears, mostly accumulated under the 2011/12 zero-deficit budget (ZDB) as government procured goods and services from the private sector on credit, are also hitting cash flows in businesses hard.

Small businesses—without the benefit of economies of scale that help big businesses to survive hostile environments—have especially been affected by the delays to get paid for services rendered to government.

The development has forced some small operations out of business, leading to job losses in an economy that is bleeding more jobs than creating them, according to Louis Chiwalo, executive director of Economic Empowerment Action Group (Eeag).

Those who are still in business, said Chiwalo, are mostly struggling to pay their workers and creditors as credit lines in banks dry up.

When presenting the 2012/13 national budget, Finance Minister Dr Ken Lipenga announced that the accumulated arrears were mainly on account of parastatal organisations taking loans and overdrafts of about K37 billion.

The arrears

Government departments owed private sector suppliers K28.6 billion whereas an estimated K6.1 billion are arrears accumulated on pension contributions, salaries, utilities and subscriptions.

Government asked the Auditor General (AG) to verify the K72 billion debt to establish how such huge arrears came about and verify their authenticity.

Before paying suppliers, the Secretary to the Treasury (ST) will be writing the AG, submitting documents such as invoices, contract agreements and local purchasing orders (LPOs) for verification.

Lipenga said the arrears from parastatals include Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi which has K16.2 billion, Air Malawi (K5 billion), Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (K5 billion), Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation (K4.9 billion).

The National Food Reserve Agency, Malawi Rural Finance Company, Malawi Postal Corporation and Small and Medium Enterprise Development Board accounted for the balance in the parastatal debt.

Government departments include the Malawi Police Service (K10 billion), Road Sector Projects (K8.3 billion), Central Medical Stores (K2 billion), Malawi Housing Corporation (K2.1 billion), Malawi Defence Force (K1.3 billion), Malawi Prison Service (K1.3 billion), Immigration Department (K1.2 billion), Rentals (K1.4 billion), Office of the President and Cabinet (K590 million) and Malawi Electoral Commission (K407 million).

The balance of arrears is for pensions (K3.9 billion) Mzuzu University (K590 million), utilities arrears (K600 million), subscription Arrears (K620 million), Ministry of Education salary arrears (K612 Million) and Compensation Fund (K627 million).

Apart from the private sector arrears by government departments and agencies, the central government also racked up huge amounts of domestic debts from the local financial markets and foreign debts from international lenders, which squeezes the fiscal space to pay local suppliers.

Caution statement

In June this, FMB director Sean O’Neill cautioned government to contain its appetite for domestic borrowing, adding that it is disappointing that government ministries and parastatals accumulated such huge arrears.

He said then: “The extent to which the previous government had us living beyond our means is apparent in the growth in government debt from virtually zero immediately after the post Hipc [Highly Indebted Poor Countries] to today’s position of K200 billion of domestic debt and K250 billion of foreign debt.”

Local businesses started complaining of not being paid their money in July, just a month after the 2012/13 budget was presented.

They argued that government is taking too long to pay them because the National Audit Office (NAO) is taking time to finish debt verification.

Some of the suppliers are worried, but cannot speak openly for fear of repercussions in future dealings with government.

But they cry privately about the pressure from foreign suppliers, a problem worsened by exchange rate losses from the devaluation of the kwacha and its subsequent floatation on May 7 2012.

“We are in dire need of government to restructure this debt as soon as possible since the market forces have not stabilised yet.

“Further delays by NAO in auditing and verifying these debts in the shortest period possible will result in major losses by companies and massive lay-offs of staff because our capital is still locked up in debts since government is our major buyer of goods and services,” said one supplier, a member of the Indigenous Businesses Association of Malawi (Ibam), a grouping of local business operators.

Amid pressure from suppliers, NAO last month cleared five companies to access payment from Treasury.

‘Arrears sufficient liquidity’

Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) says, if cleared, the arrears are “sufficient liquidity” which could go a long way to ease the kwacha crisis currently crippling the banking system.

MCCCI chief executive officer Chancellor Kaferapanjira told Business Review this week that it is obvious government deficit is having an impact on businesses cash flows.

“We understand from our members across the board, but especially in construction that they are owed hefty amounts. If the deficit was not this large, for sure businesses’ lending needs may not have been as high as they are now. So, indeed, the deficit to a smaller extent may also explain the liquidity crisis situation,” he said.

The liquidity crunch is so serious that banks are failing to meet depositor demands and, are in some cases, rationing cash.

National Bank of Malawi (NBM), the Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE)-listed financial institution, in its newsletter for September 2012 has also weighed in on the same.

“This [K72 billion] is apparently sufficient liquidity which could otherwise have gone a long way to ease the current liquidity crisis,” said the largest bank by assets and market capitalisation.

Small businesses yelp in pain

Eeag’s Chiwalo, in an interview last Tuesday, said they had about 33 suppliers on their members’ list who dealt with government.

“After some of our members came to officially complain to us, we engaged in negotiations with government. And, by August 30, government had started paying some of them though not in full,” he said.

Chiwalo said the delay to pay them had caused some of the companies to start eating into their capital; hence, affecting their operations.

“Most of them have had their capital for buying raw materials eroded. Some could not fulfill the orders, causing them to collapse completely, thereby rendering their employees jobless,” he said.

The call for the arrears to be paid in the hope of easing liquidity challenges is based on the fact that commercial banks are facing a liquidity squeeze—a time when cash resources are in short supply and demand is high.

The liquidity problems in banks came when the 49 percent devaluation of the kwacha resulted in commercial banks clearing some backlog of external payment by most importers which resulted in wiping out excess liquidity in the financial market, according to the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM).

According to analysts, some banks may not have expected the availability of foreign exchange that quickly and may, therefore, have been caught ‘napping’.

Already, banks have borrowed close to K1 trillion from RBM through the non-collateralised discount window at 23.5 percent, but which expired on July 31 2012.

RBM blow

But effective August 1, RBM governor Charles Chuka indicated that continuance of the non-collaterised discount window, if considered necessary, will attract a charge of four percentage points above the banks’ prime lending rate of the particular bank and that additional charges may be imposed if access is considered excessive and/or prolonged.

Because banks are borrowing at a high rate from RBM, they have also raised their base lending rates to as high as 45 percent, making borrowing for both working capital and expansion prohibitive; forcing some businesses to close shop or down-size as access to capital takes a knock. This has left a trail of delinquent loans.

Lipenga has acknowledged the problem of liquidity in the financial system, attributing it to the recently implemented economic measures which the Joyce Banda administration has undertaken in an attempt to bring back the economy on track.

But for the businesspersons that government owes and whose life depends on that unpaid bill, the reforms do not mean much to them. And time is running out.

Malawi’s new president has made numerous breaks from her autocratic predecessor but few will be this popular: she has dumped his presidential jet and fleet of luxury cars.

Joyce Banda, who came to power in April after the death of Bingu wa Mutharika, has barely paused in her drive to overturn his controversial policies and lifestyle.

Her decision to sell or lease the impoverished country’s £8.4m presidential jet and fleet of 60 Mercedes government cars seems likely to cement domestic goodwill – and confirm her as a darling of the west.

Britain, Malawi’s biggest aid donor, announced on Friday that Andrew Mitchell, the international development secretary, had raised the issue of the Dassault Falcon 900EX jet with Banda at a private meeting with the new government. Mitchell said: “At a time of austerity in both Britain and Malawi, president Banda’s decision to sell or lease the presidential jet and expensive fleet of cars sends an enormously encouraging signal to British taxpayers and the international community about the seriousness President Banda is applying to overturn bad decisions taken under the previous government.

“The proceeds can be used to provide basic services to Malawi’s poorest people who urgently need help following the vital devaluation of the currency.”

Last month Banda was quoted in local media saying the cabinet would discuss the jet’s future, explaining she had no problems “offloading it as I can well use private airliners; I am already used to hitchhiking”.

Mutharika bought the presidential jet in 2009, claiming it was less expensive than leasing a plane every time he travelled. But it came to be seen as a symbol of African kleptocracy and some observers compared him with Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe.

Mutharika was also condemned for purchasing a 58-room mansion in his home district and granting a salary to his wife. His regime lashed out at allegations of corruption and cronyism at a time when Malawi was suffering severe shortages of foreign currency and fuel.

The president’s sudden death from a heart attack changed the course of the country’s history. Having thwarted an attempt by his allies to block her, Banda assumed control and has since appointed a new cabinet, sacked his police chief, announced the lifting of a ban on homosexuality and restored the country’s independence-era flag.

The turnaround has been welcomed by western countries such as Britain, whose high commissioner was expelled by Mutharika for branding him “autocratic and intolerant of criticism”.

During a four-day visit, Mitchell confirmed that the Bank of England will work directly with the Reserve Bank of Malawi to help it cope with the impact of slashing the value of the local currency, the kwacha, by one third earlier this month on the advice of the IMF.

The minister said: “I am also delighted to be in Malawi to relaunch Britain’s development partnership with the new president. Britain is leading the international community by providing urgent balance of payments support and technical assistance to Malawi through the Bank of England.”

In May this year Britain pledged £23m to help stabilise the Malawian economy and £10m for the country’s health system.

Barely two weeks after Nigerian flamboyant prophet TB Joshua prophesied the death of Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika, he once again dropped a bombshell on Sunday saying an Argentina leader would die soon.

TB Joshua told thousands of his followers during the end of the second service broadcast on the free-to-air- Emmanuel TV that a leader in Argentina would die after he or she collapses. He said the leader would survive if he is given minor treatment but an attempt to operate him or her would lead to death.

Man of the moment

He said the people of Argentina could approach him for an update on how to handle the matter.

He further warned an ageing church leader saying he would also die soon. “I see an old, respected and great man of God going to rest. This is not death but rest. I give more details in upcoming services.”

TB Joshua added that prior to North Korea’s launch of a rocket into space, he told his children that the launch would fail but he didn’t want to mention it publicly following a spate of criticism over wa Mutharika’s death.

He defended that he was prophesying death because it was a waste of time in telling the world about “good things.”

The prophet said when he prophesies death of influential people, it was only meant to make them put their life in order.

Human rights activist Ben Chiza Mkandawire has asked the Malawi government to freeze the accounts of late Malawi president Bingu wa Mutharika and proble his dealings with some local and international companies. Mkandawire has since urged government to put in adequate security in some state and private institutions to avoid the concealment of evidence of abuse of office and corruption during the thirty day mourning period of the demise of Mutharika.

Mr Ben Chiza Mkandawire, asked govt to freeze Late Mutharika's Accounts

Graham Carr, the interim administrators of Banda’s estate, reported that as at 31 August 1999, the fallen dictator’s wealth was estimated at US$319.5m. The administrators also reported that Dr Banda might also have had interests in a South African mining firm. The Bakili Muluzi regime, riding on a popular wave of political wind of change that was sweeping Africa, and fighting to ascertain its relevance to the principles of multiparty democracy and “power to the people” ideology, took Banda’s estate under a microscopic investigation. In the end, Press Group Limited, which in the 1970’s had expanded rapidly, and by 1979 had interests in 17 subsidiary companies and 23 associated companies, was reverted to government after it had been rigorously debated on both in court and in parliament as to its true ownership. For decades, the company’s economic presence in Malawi had been inextricably linked with Banda and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) despite, President Banda himself establishing it and incorporating it as a charitable Trust under the Press Trust Deed in 1982. In 1995, the National Assembly passed the Press Trust Reconstruction Act, which redefined Press Trust’s charitable intentions. In January 1997, the Supreme Court of Malawi upheld the legitimacy of the Act that gave the company certainty of ownership.

After Banda’s death at Garden City Clinic in South Africa, in November 1997, at the age of 101, efforts to unknot the former president’s wealth drew a blank mostly because most financial institutions demanded Banda’s death certificate before they could release records. Unfortunately, the certificate could not be traced. The administrators raised the red flag fearing that the missing death certificate and the lack of co-operation from those who were supposed to be in the know would derail and delay the conclusion of court cases surrounding the distribution of the estate. Meanwhile, Graham Carr managed to trace two British financial institutions, NatWest Bank, which held £17,374.83 ($26,000) and Invesco Unit Trust who had £320,015.39 ($480,000) of Banda’s investments. A South African Institute of Security Studies research intern, Daniel Scher in 2005 opined that asset recovery attempts are complicated in most African countries because those who are implicated are usually powerful and hold influence. “Thus it is an unenviable task for any government, let alone one operating in an environment with few anti-corruption institutions and often with limited state capacity to recover looted assets,” he observed. Scher however, noted that there are potential rewards, in the form of the recovery of money into development-starved nations that make the exercise an attractive undertaking. Malawi is predominantly an agricultural nation, with about 90% of the population living in rural areas. The landlocked country ranks among the world’s least developed countries.

Agriculture accounts for 37% of GDP and 85% of export revenues with few exploitable mineral resources. The economy depends on donor support inflows from the Breton Woods institutions, IMF and World Bank, and other individual donor nations. The government faces strong challenges to spur exports, improve education and health facilities, fight environmental problems of deforestation and soil erosion, and to deal with the rapidly growing problem of HIV and AIDS. The country’s reliance on the export of agricultural commodities renders it particularly vulnerable to external shocks such as declining terms of trade and drought. High transport costs, which can comprise over 30% of its total import bill, constitute a serious impediment to economic development and trade. Progress towards reaching the Millennium Development Goal of eradicating extreme poverty has been limited. According to the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Report, about 74 per cent of the population still lives below the income poverty line of US$1.25 a day and 90 per cent below the US$2 a day threshold. The proportion of poor and ultra-poor is highest in rural areas of the southern and northern parts of the country In his first term of rule between 1994 and 1999, the Muluzi regime set out to put in place democratic institutions. The separation of powers between the executive body of government, the legislature and the judiciary, which was synonymous with the ruling MCP during Banda’s reign, was made distinct.

The government created the Anti-corruption Bureau (ACB), the office of the Ombudsman and the set up the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) among other democratic institutions, all to provide checks and balance in the affairs of the state. Unfortunately, after the re-election into government of Muluzi and his United Democratic Front (UDF) in 1999, the character and party that had endeared themselves with the people begun to loose the plot. Politics of patronage slipped in as the president worked up ways to consolidate power and entrench himself as the country’s knight in shining armor. In Malawi’s Political Settlement in Crisis, Diana Cammack, a Research Associate of the Overseas Development Institute in London observed that without the accountability mechanisms of a well-developed democracy, neopatrimonial logic dominated Muluzi style of governance. Cammack who also leads the Local Governance & Leadership stream of the Africa Power and Politics programme wrote; “Initially Muluzi followed donor advice and relied on advisors who prioritised development, but within a few years he had surrounded himself with politicians who had an interest in short-term gains and aimed to use state resources, aid and the development process to stay in power and get rich. Corruption, starting at the top, extended to the grassroots, where public goods and rents were dispensed according to party affiliation. “Disregard for old regulations reached the point where public servants were afraid to implement them,” she explained pointing out that social and economic indicators plummeted as “Politics overwhelmed sound economic planning and execution, and construction and repair of infrastructure lagged far behind mounting needs”.

After a failed attempt to prolong his stay in power in 2003, Muluzi handpicked Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika, an economist who had been sacked from the Common Market of East and Southern Africa (COMESA) as secretary general on allegations of abuse of office and financial mismanagement, to succeed him. Wanting to be his own self, Mutharika broke ranks with Muluzi and formed his own Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in 2005. To garner public sympathy, he set out on an anti corruption drive targeting Muluzi and his henchmen. Muluzi was accused of selling maize reserves, Malawi’s staple diet, in time of famine without turning over the proceeds into government coffers. It is widely suspected that the money wound up in foreign accounts belonging to the former president and his supporters. In 2006, Muluzi was arrested on fraud and corruption charges but he was later released on bail. Without giving reasons, President Mutharika suspended the anti-corruption bureau’s chief investigator Gustav Kaliwo while the Director of Public Prosecutions Ishmael Wadi dropped the charges. The Malawi president then demanded the resignation of the top prosecutor for withdrawing the charges. But Wadi said with the suspension of the ACB chief, the bureau had no powers to prosecute. ”I would like Mr Ishmael Wadi, the director of public prosecutions, to tender his resignation within the next 24 hours. In other words by noon tomorrow, Friday 11 August 2006, I would like to receive his resignation letter on my desk,” Mutharika told reporters during the opening of an agricultural fair. Mutharika said Wadi’s decision to drop the charges ”has done the country more harm than he realises”. ”This withdrawal has destroyed my credibility as president against corruption but also the credibility of this country globally,” he said.

Meanwhile, a cross-section of law students of the University of Malawi’s constituent college, Chancellor College, at a symposium on “The law and the recovery of benefits unjustly accruing to public functionaries: Solutions for Malawians” called on the Bureau to probe the former president to establish how he amassed wealth during his 10-year reign. But the ACB refused, saying nobody had made an official complaint against the former head of state despite Section 32 of the Corrupt Practices Act (CPA) stipulating that the ACB may investigate any public officer where there are reasonable grounds to believe that such public officer maintains a standard of living above that which is commensurate with his present or past official emoluments or other known sources of income. The symposium, which was attended by the then Attorney General Ralph Kasambara and Director of Public Prosecutions Ishmael Wadi before they fell out of grace with Mutharika, agreed that government would look at whether property found to have been amassed through corrupt means could be recovered. Muluzi was once more arrested on 26 February 2009 and initially charged with 86 counts of corruption and abuse of office. He is being accused of allegedly diverting US$11m of donor money into his personal account.

The said money, among others, came from the Republic of Taiwan, the Kingdom of Morocco and Libya. The case has, meanwhile, since lost steam. National asset looting has a significant element in foreign aid. Scher observes that with global strategic interests at play, donor governments overlook pillaging of aid and state coffers for continued support. He goes on to point at multinational companies, particularly those in the oil and construction industry, as front runners in providing bribes to grease the wheels of government contracts. “Contracts which themselves are often bloated as a reciprocal back-scratching.” Two other countries that attempted the asset recovery campaigns are Nigeria and Kenya. Nigeria achieved some success after its then president Olusegun Obasanjo managed to strike a deal with Sani Abacha’s family to return US$1 billion, an equivalent of almost 9 per cent of Nigeria’s 2004 national budget. According to an ISS Africa Security Review, the out-of-court settlement allowed the family to keep US100 million leaving the family with an overall asset value of US$300 million, a significant sum in a country with an annual per capita income of US$1, 000. The deal was arrived at after the government realized that the family was well financed to fund a legal battle that could end up eating more government money through lawyers’ fees than they would have recovered. In the Kenyan scenario, the campaign got stuck in a maze of investigations that exposed US$1 billion worth of stashed away assets in shares in London hotels and dealings with international banks in UK and Switzerland.

The campaign hit a blank when president Mwai Kibaki’s anti corruption drive lost steam against his predecessor Daniel Arap Moi following the resignation of anti corruption chief John Githongo whose life was under threat because of the investigations. The campaign also faced resistance from the country’s own judiciary. However, Scher feels that sustained and increasing pressure needs to be placed on corrupt leaders through assets recovery campaigns that would see both the money being reclaimed and justice being done. “Leaders need to be made aware that they will be accountable financially and legally, even if it is only at some point in future,” he says. Scher nevertheless observes that the major obstacles to assets recovery campaigns are state capacity, political will and funding constraints. Mutharika came into the light of Malawian politics when he contested for the state presidency in the general elections of 1999 under the banner of his now defunct United Party where he polled last with less than 1% of the total votes cast. By then he had just been sacked as COMESA secretary general for what the regional body termed as “glaring instances of mismanagement of the resources of COMESA”. A committee which recommended his removal observed that Mutharika used substantial funds of the institution on missions to Malawi (his home) and Zimbabwe where his wife resides on their farm. “COMESA funds these missions, which we have established are primarily private in nature” says a report made public after he got elected as Malawi’s president. In 2005 The Zimbabwean Standard newspaper reported that the Malawian president acquired Bineth Farm in Zimbabwe located some 20 km outside Kadoma along the Sanyati – Gokwe Road.

Apart from the farm, Mutharika has been known to own only one mini bus that was plying the streets of Lilongwe before he was president. He was not known to have owned a home but lodged with friends and sympathizers. When he ascended to the presidency, in 2004 Mutharika declared his total assets to be around one million US dollars (MK150m) 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 Muluzi.

Emerging reports allege that the Malawi head of state also owned a hotel, a villa and a yatch in Portugal. Mutharika was also founder and chairman of the Bineth Trust and the Bingu Silvergrey Foundation. He is also the founder of the Malawi University of Science and Technology which is being constructed on his Ndata estate land. Following growing displeasure with his bad political and economic governance and abuse of human rights, civil rights activists last year asked the Speaker of the Malawi National Assembly to divulge the details of Mutharika’s current wealth. But the Speaker, refused, prompting the Malawi Law Society (MLS) and civil society organisations to accuse him of shielding the president, who they argue, should be accountable to Malawians who put him in office.

In a petition civil society organisations gave to government during the July 20 protests against Mutharika’s style of leadership, the organisations queried how Mutharika amassed his wealth, citing the construction of his Ndata mansion at his farm in Thyolo. The cost of the residence, said to have been constructed as a gift by Portuguese construction giant, Mota Engil, is a guarded secret but is speculated to be around US$3million. The mill has it that Portuguese, Chinese and Australian money are much behind Mutharika’s wealth. The 20 point petition demands that the president fully declare his assets and explain sources of funds to acquire his current wealth. “During his second terms of office, the current President appears to have amassed significant wealth that does not tally with his salary of approximately $12,000 per month. Within three years of being power in 2007, Mutharika purchased land in Thyolo [his home district] at an alleged price of about $42,000. He then proceeded to develop part of the land at an exorbitant cost which requires clear explanation to allay suspicion,” reads the petition in part

Section 88 of the Constitution requires the President and Members of Parliament to declare their assets within three months after an election. Section 88 (3) reads: ”The President and members of the Cabinet shall not hold any other public office and shall not perform remunerative work outside the duties of their office and shall, within three months from the date of election or appointment, as the case may be, fully disclose all of their assets, liabilities and business interests, and those of their spouses, held by them or on their behalf as at that date; and, unless Parliament otherwise prescribes by an Act of Parliament, such disclosure shall be made in a written document delivered to the Speaker of the National Assembly who shall immediately upon receipt deposit the document with such public office
as may be specified in the Standing Orders of Parliament.”

Chairperson of the NGOs group in the July 20 petitions, Voice Mhone, confirmed that the declaration of the president’s assets is one of their demands which is yet to be tackled in the dialogue with government. Chairperson of the Declaration of Assets Committee in Parliament, Nick Masebo, said his committee has no information on whether Mutharika declared his assets. But he said MPs did so during their swearing in ceremony. Said Masebo:”As a committee, we have not probably gone into having an activity trying to find out whether all eligible people have declared their assets. As for MPs, as far as I know, when we were sworn in we were given forms which we filled, declaring assets and I did it. The Speaker is the right person to tell if all eligible people to declare assets have done so.” Former Speaker of Parliament Sam Mpasu recently told the Sunday Times that the law on assets was weak as it does not require the declaration of assets when leaving office to measure if the wealth a person has matched his or her income. Last week, Mutharika died of cardiac arrest. But will Malawians be told how he acquired his vast wealth in a short period? Or like his predecessors, should the country continue to dance to the anti corruption slogan that is only lip service and does not pay dividends to the ordinary Malawian people?

News coming out from the media say he had millions of US dollars and Malawi Kwachas stashed in a room in his state residence. Despite having the Anti Corruption Bureau, the institution has lost public trust as it is seen as a tool by the ruling elite to intimidate and oppress political opposition members. Also as long as the accused have power and influence, justice for the masses is a far fetched dream.