JB brands APM regime ‘corrupt’
Immediate past president Joyce Banda has branded the administration of her successor and bitter political rival Peter Mutharika as “deeply corrupt” and incompetent.
Banda, currently living in self-imposed exile since her defeat to Mutharika and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the May 20 2014 Tripartite Elections, expressed her sentiments to members of her People’s Party (PP) through a teleconference whose leaked audio The Nation has listened to.
In the recording, Banda—who ascended to the presidency on April 7 2012 in line with constitutional order after the death of President Bingu wa Mutharika—also vowed to return home, but fell short of giving her timeframe for the return home.
Minister of Information and Communications Technology Nicholas Dausi, the official government spokesperson, has since dismissed Banda’s assertions and faulted her for tarnishing her country’s image abroad.
In the audio recording, whose date could not be confirmed, Banda started the teleconference by shouting her party’s slogan before greeting the party cadres at a venue The Nation could not confirm.
She said she was disheartened by the failure of the DPP administration to tackle worsening corruption and food insecurity.
Citing the recent Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal ruling which reversed the contentious election of Lilongwe City South East MP Bentley Namasasu over an alleged electoral fraud case launched by Malawi Congress Party (MCP) challenger Ulemu Msungama, Banda said the case was evidence the elections which removed her from power could have been flawed.
She said: “What has happened in Lilongwe where the MP has been removed [by courts] is evidence that the elections were rigged. If we searched for evidence in the other constituencies we lost, we will discover just how much the elections were rigged.”
The former president reserved her most scathing comments on Mutharika’s lack of anti-corruption fight, saying the current administration was involved in systematic looting of State utility companies.
She said: “Katangale ali tho tho tho! Kuba ku chipatala, kuba ku Tevet. Kuba ku Escom. Kuba ku water board. Anthu kusowa madzi kusowa magetsi. Anthu akupezeka ndizindalama mmanyumba tho tho tho. Kuwotcha ma office mkati. Koma lero People’s Party ndiye chipani chimene achipezelera kuti adzichiseweretsa kumazunza atsogeleri ake. [Corruption is deeply entrenched. They are stealing from hospitals, Tevet, Escom; they are stealing from water boards. People have no electricity; no water. People are being found with huge sums of money stashed in their homes. Yet, at the end of the day, the People’s Party and its leadership are the punch bags].
In response, Dausi said: “She is busy telling western countries many evil things she cannot substantiate. She needs to come home and defend what she says if she has no ill-motive. Why can’t she come back home? What is she afraid of?
“She is accusing us of corruption. Let her come home, we will remind her that she must learn to speak the truth because Malawians have not forgotten her own government. She has no moral right to say such things.”
On whether the issues Banda raised are legitimate as they were also raised by civil society organisations, including recently Public Affairs Committee (PAC), Dausi said Malawians should start questioning why “PAC and Banda often speak the same language”.
In a separate interview, PP spokesperson Noah Chimpeni said Banda remains PP leader and that she has been addressing the party’s followers on several occasions using teleconferences.
However, the party refused to detail exact dates of Banda’s return.
Chancellor College based political analyst, Joseph Chunga, in an interview, said Banda’s prolonged stay was harming the party she founded, but said the issues of corruption and maladministration she is raising are pertinent.
He said: “I just don’t understand the reasons she is staying outside [the country]. Perhaps there are good reasons. The most serious concern is her maintenance of the leadership of the party that is killing the party. Nationwide, I don’t see her relevance any more.
“She is, however, raising pertinent issues. It’s a different question on whether she is the right person and using the right communication channel to speak outside the country; the issues of corruption are pertinent and a concern to many Malawians.”
