Police drop K39m MAM charges
Fiscal Police in Blantyre have dropped their investigation of Muslim Association of Malawi (MAM) chairperson Idrissa Muhammad over alleged misappropriation of a K39 million donation.
Muhammad was accused of conspiracy and theft and was summoned to the Fiscal Police to explain how he handled the K39 million donation from the African Continent Committee at the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society after some members raised an alarm.
Fiscal Police
Blantyre Police spokesperson Elizabeth Divala said in an interview on Tuesday that the charges were dropped after the committee’s chairperson from Kuwait, Sheikh Jassim Alainati, personally reported at Fiscal Police on August 27 this year and confirmed that no money was abused.
Divala said: “The donor from Kuwait signed for a statement in which he explained that he personally visited and supervised the projects in Machinga and Mangochi where two mosques were constructed using that donation.”
She said the accusations from the Malawi Muslim community indicated that Muhammad was diverting donations to his personal benefit hence Fiscal Police got involved.
“But it is clear from the statement the donor signed for at Fiscal Police that no funds were abused by the MAM chairperson and it was based on this that the charges were immediately dropped,” said Divala.
In an interview, Muhammad said he was never moved by the charges because his conscience was clear, adding it was unfortunate that some members cooked up issues ahead of MAM elections next year.
He said: “As MAM chairperson, I convinced this donor from Kuwait. You know Kuwait donors stopped assisting us in 1990 due to issues of mismanaging funds, but I have started convincing them and some people are not happy that I am achieving this.
“What people did not understand was that the donations from this donor were not being channelled through the MAM account.”
He said if MAM funds were abused, treasurer general Bujad Kalera, acting secretary general Twaibu Lawe and himself as the three signatories would have been aware.
