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Calls loom for Pres Joyce Banda to resign

Delegates to assess her leadership: Banda
Delegates to assess her leadership: Banda

The Public Affairs Committee (PAC) says it cannot stop delegates at its forthcoming third All-Inclusive Stakeholders’ Conference to call for the resignation of President Joyce Banda if the ongoing forensic audit will link her name to the Capital Hill looting.

PAC sources this week confided in The Nation that as was the case during former president the late Bingu wa Mutharika’s time, the inter-faith civil society grouping would not stand in the way of the delegates to the conference to propose the resignation of the President.

Said the source: “The conference will seek, among other issues, to examine the radical view that JB should consider to resign given the magnitude of the looting. The cash-gate scandal is a shameful act by all standards and we can’t predict the outcome of the conference.

“The issue is that we want the forensic audit not to be doctored and we want the forensic report that will be produced to be implemented to its full potential and if the forensic audit will link JB to the cashgate, she should consider resigning.

“It is also our belief that the ‘big fish’ are many and we are wondering why only [former minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs] Ralph Kasambara was arrested as a suspect. The law should be applied to all officials irrespective of their positions. The conference will also look into the issue of how government was handling the cashgate scandal through arrests.”

But PAC executive director Robert Phiri on Tuesday this week said his organisation believes that there is need to have a thorough follow-up on the cashgate crisis and that most Malawians do not feel that the forensic exercise would yield the desired results.

He said there is fear that some senior officers in government who might have been involved in the massive looting of public resources will not be brought to book and that the process might die a natural death as the country approaches elections next year.

Flashback: PAC leaders and some delegates at the first conference in March 2012
Flashback: PAC leaders and some delegates at the first conference in March 2012

Said Phiri: “Our view is that previously, we acted against open and third term constitutional amendments and during the past regime, we held the State machinery accountable by placing demands. In this case, why should we fail to hold ourselves and leaders accountable?

“It is the view of PAC that, as an organisation, we should not stoop so low by compromising our watch-dog role. The plan will proceed without hindrance. We will also invite representatives from State machinery. There is no hidden agenda.”

On the possible calls for the President to resign, Phiri said: “PAC will provide a forum for people to freely express themselves. Let people demand what they want to demand rather than oppressing divergent views. Whether the demands made are feasible or not is another question.”

He said all the recommendations from the conference to be held under the theme ‘Malawi at crossroads: Enhancing transformative leadership through holding leaders and ourselves accountable’ would be presented to the State machinery after the conference, although PAC as a grouping would not influence any decision or expected outcome.

Msonda: It will be incumbent on PAC to direct delegation
Msonda: It will be incumbent on PAC to direct delegation

“However, it must be understood that we cannot predetermine the outcome of the conference apart from knowing that we would like to enhance broad-based dialogue so that we have a unified appreciation and direction as we approach 2014 Tripartite Elections.

“Our goal is to influence policy and transformative leadership based on the previous conferences. Our position as PAC has never changed. We will always intervene when we see the direction of our country is hazy,” he said.

According to a concept document for the conference, which The Nation managed to see, PAC expects an enhanced common understanding on the cashgate scandal and make resolutions aimed at pressuring government to remain on track.

Reads the document in part: “These will be beefed by raising a single voice on the crisis so that the public is guided in terms of its expectations. The major gap at the moment is that few people appreciate processes and how complex prosecution can be.”

It says the corruption and fraud crisis at Capital Hill confirms PAC’s findings from the previous conferences that political responsibility and accountable leadership was lacking in the country.

“This calls for transformative leadership through sustained advocacy and building an informed society for quality leadership. The core problem identified based on recent PAC activities is the lack of transformative, accountable and responsive leadership in Malawi which funnels in all key sectors of the economy-which is compounded by the Malawi’s political culture and systems,” it reads.

People’s Party deputy publicity secretary Ken Msonda said the party would be at pains to comment on the anticipated resignation calls because nobody knows the outcome of the forensic audit.

Msonda, however, said there were valid reasons that led to the conference that demanded for the resignation of the late Mutharika and that “possibly” there were reasons for PAC to call for another meeting of a similar type.

Said Msonda: “We do not know the type of people who will be delegates at the PAC conference so that we may comment on their ability to understand complex issues that the forensic audit may unravel. I would, therefore, expect that no one will push recommendations on the delegates, even before they deliberate.

“We do not have to set recommendations as an agenda, otherwise people will judge us wrongly on what our motives may be. It will be incumbent on PAC to direct delegates to discuss the matters as they will be and not be prejudiced.”

Msonda said the President has shown determination to root out fraud and corruption which was entrenched in the government system for a long time and that Malawians are capable of judging her sincerity.

During PAC’s first All-Inclusive Stakeholders’ Conference in March 2012, delegates gave Mutharika 60 days to resign or call for a referendum on his leadership within 90 days. Mutharika’s administration faced various challenges, including poor governance and economic management which saw the country experiencing acute shortages of foreign exchange, fuel and other necessities.

Mutharika died on April 5 2012, barely three weeks after the ultimatum.

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14 Comments

  1. The PAC is acting like it has been away on a hemp smoking vacation. Are you not a part of the same corrupt government and are fully complicit in the Cash Gate? If not, what steps had you taken to ensure accountability at all levels of government since Dr. Banda was voted out of power? The assertion, “We will always intervene when we see the direction of our country is hazy”, is not only indicative of an idle PAC waiting to be jump Started by government slime but is also a hazy approach to holding the government accountable.
    Get this, you are just as corrupt or else prove it that you are not!

    1. What role has the PAC played in fighting against corruption in the country? On who’s interest are they acting upon? And they must provide proof of Joyce Banda’s wrong doing.

  2. The issue at hand it’s not about corruption it’s about looting and kleptocracy. These two are beyond corruption.

  3. Msonda please show respect to the Clergy. It does not do you and our party any good to insult PAC members. How can you say that “we do not know the type of people who will be delegates at the PAC conference……………… their ability to understand complex issues that the forensic audit may unravel”. So you consider yourself more educated than members of PAC. What complex issues which PAC members may not understand when it comes to theft of public money ? PAC stands for the common good. You might need PAC tomorrow when the tide turns against you. Ask Kasambala, Ken Ngoma, Muwalo, Gwede, Orton Chirwa, Chilumpha, Brown Mpinganjira and other who fell out of grace and became victims of their own machinations. wandikwiyitsa kwambiri.

    My advice to PP is that they should let someone sensible to be opening his mouth on this issue

  4. To Msonda and his PP cronies, please believe that everyone who participated in stealing government money, including the President and her sons are going down! This is way too big for us to weep under the rug. Mother Malawi is so much bigger and stronger than aall of us. So, keep running your mouth and watch what will happen. You better pray that your president comes out 100% clean on this. If she doesn’t, this wil be the end of her presidency and the beginning of a very shameful walk down the hall of infamy!

  5. achoke pampando jb chifukwa akuwonga ndalama za boma zomwe akanatha kugwilisa ntchito ya chitukuko 50.million pa ulendo umodzi ndi ndalama zambili

  6. Yes, as Mother Cash-Gate herself, she should go. By the way why only Accountant General, Ministry of Tourism and OPC were Cash-Gated. What about the other Ministries and departments. There are smaller Cash Gates as evidenced by their failure to pay their numerous suppliers of goods and services. They just pay themselves for undelivered services.

  7. A Msonda why cann’t you just keep quite!!! Kodi umadziona ngati wanzeru ndiwe wekha m’malawi muno eti? You show how idiotic you are because Your talk clearly show that you know something za Cash~gating our tax-payers money!!! Akumangani Nonse Okutibera makobiri athunu!!!!!

  8. PP is strongly linked to cash-gate scandal and the vehicles they are using are cash-gate connected. Joyce Banda is directly or indirectly connected and should be held accountable. She is the leader and must resign and be arrested. We have more questions unanswered to the cash-gate. We have a Mr. Njanji as PS finance in OPC. Why was he pull out of retirement to replace Matanda? Does the Malawi nation know there was this move? Why was Mphwiyo shot? This what we say chinatsitsa dzaye mu mtengo ku Joyce Banda and PP zithyoke mnyanga.

  9. I am so disappointed with Mrs Banda. Her failure to disclose her wealth which her predecessor did under the same legislative framework was enough for a critical tax payer to raise a red flag. Her recent declaration that those who benefits from proceeds from the cashgate (like her party) should not be prosecuted was another sign that our dear president may not after all be clean. If she was clean and able to explain her wealth, there was no need to play hide and seek on this matter. If her party was not connected to the cashgate, they should by now offered to return the vehicles they received from Lutepo and only starting using them again when the court cleared Mr. Lutepo that he never received this money at all. And one last thing, someone argued that we should ask JB to resign because her there will be a power vacuum or an unelected Khumbo will be president. I think the main issue is that anyone who is involved in this looting should leave. If both JB and KK are involved, they should leave. Our constitution has a provision of what happens if both the office president and the veep are vacant. So we must reject as false these assertions that there will be a power vacuum.

  10. In civilized societies, there would be no need to debate the fact that the government need to step down. Every senior government official must be held to account.

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