Government to sue Chinoko—Mpinganjira

The Government says it will take to court secretary of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) for the Lilongwe Diocese Peter Chinoko who told the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament (PAC) on Thursday that President Joyce Banda is part and parcel of the looting of public resources.

Chinoko claimed that the President was the kingpin in the plot to steal billions from government coffers to fund the governing People’s Party (PP).

Minister of Information Brown Mpinganjira on Friday said government would sue Chinoko in his individual capacity.

“Just two days ago, Mphwiyo told PAC that he never gave any money to the President and we are wondering where Chinoko is getting the information implicating the President in the cashgate. To me, this is not accidental because I once said that there is a plan to blackmail the President so that she stops the investigations currently underway against several individuals as regards the theft of public money,” said Mpinganjira

He claimed that people who want to blackmail the President are threatening to embarrass and frustrate her efforts to fight corruption.

“This is a well planned and calculated strategy by those that are trying to run away from the full force of the law to try and smear as many individuals as possible so that in the confusion that can ensue, they themselves might escape prosecution.

“We in government have the greatest respect for the church and in spite of all this I want to assure the nation that nobody will succeed in provoking us into a verbal war against the church.

“We are convinced that Mr Chinoko owes this nation an apology for his outright lies and as government we will sue him for the lies,” said Mpinganjira.

When contacted for comment, Chinoko said he did not want to say more on the matter.

“I would rather not comment on the issue that government wants to sue me.  Whether I have more evidence or not I will keep it to myself because of the way things are in Malawi currently,” he said.

Responding to Chinoko’s statements linking the President to the looting, the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) on Friday distanced itself from the claims, saying they do not represent CCJP or the Catholic Church.

ECM secretary general Father George Buleya said Chinoko is not the official spokesperson of CCJP and the church.

“We also wonder why PAC did not follow the right channel. They know the hierarchy in the Catholic Church. They were supposed to follow the protocol,” he said.

Buleya said the church made its position on the scandal clear in the pastoral letter it released recently.