A scandal is brewing around Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Mwayiwawo Polepole, following revelations that while serving as Malawi’s ambassador to Zimbabwe he allegedly stripped his official residence in Harare of nearly all government property.
Polepole was appointed by former President Lazarus Chakwera as Malawi’s envoy to Zimbabwe in 2021 and reported for duties on November 28 the same year, before his recall in April 2024, having served two years and four months.
According to documentation Weekend Nation has seen, Polepole allegedly shipped government property from his official residence located at 7 Bushbuck Close, Mandara, Harare, during his return to Malawi.
The items, valued at $19 120 (about K34 million), included kitchenware, three television sets and a decoder, a sitting room couch, curtains and rods, a gas stove and cylinder, a Deft deep freezer, office laptop, gym equipment, and a washing machine.
These items were procured using the embassy’s Other Recurrent Transactions (ORT) account to refurnish the official residence and office shortly before Polepole assumed the diplomatic position.
A letter dated May 16 2024, from Chargé d’Affaires and deputy ambassador Major General Elias Mpaso to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs confirmed that the items were reported missing in April 2024 and later recovered when the former ambassador’s shipment was being cleared for transport to Lilongwe.
The consignment, handled by Relotech Movers Company of Zimbabwe under job reference number EXP0006/2/2024, was delivered to Polepole in Lilongwe on April 20, 2024.
“I have the honour to submit the loading confirmation and safe receipt of the household items shipped from the official residence at 7 Bushbuck Close, Mandara, Harare, Zimbabwe.
“We express our gratitude for the efficient handling and transportation of the said items,” reads the letter titled ‘Submission of Loading Confirmation on Household Items from Official Residence Harare to Lilongwe, Client Dr M. M. Polepole, Ambassador’.
The letter adds: “Furthermore, we wish to authenticate that the items reported missing in the letter reference Malawi Embassy HRE/ADMIN/21E dated 12th April 2024 were indeed included in the shipment.
“It is important to note that the items highlighted in the packing list which were purchased using the embassy ORT account and collected from the official residence align with those reported missing in the aforementioned Malawi Embassy letter. The total value of these items is assessed at $19 120.”
In his April 12 2024, communication to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Mpaso appraised the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on the situation of the Harare official residence and embassy office then following the missing items.
He listed the values as follows: kitchenware ($5 272), three television sets and decoder ($2 660), one sitting room couch ($1,700), curtains and rods ($2 804), gas stove and cylinder ($599), deep freezer ($420), office laptop ($2 865), gym equipment ($2 200), and a washing machine ($600).
Before Polepole’s arrival, the charge d’affaires had requested the ministry to refurnish the official residence through a letter dated November 17, 2021, reference HRE/ADM/21E/7.
In his April 12, 2024 follow-up letter, Mpaso reported that the embassy had used its ORT funds to buy new items but discovered that “the items that were purchased to furnish the house and office equipment have been removed.”
He further requested the ministry to replace the missing property “to allow the incoming ambassador to settle comfortably”.
In a telephone interview from Harare on Thursday, Mpaso confirmed reporting to the ministry about the missing government property and their subsequent discovery.
He revealed Polepole did not officially handed over to him the official residence after being recalled to Malawi before he discovered it was left “completely empty” with nothing inside.
“When l notified the ministry about the incident, there was no response. Then l wrote another letter requesting for auditors just to keep my books clean.
“The ministry through the director of administration answered me that l should find funds to pay the team of auditors,” he told Weekend Nation.
“I was told to look for the funds to pay for auditors’ travel to Harare…I was shocked so with no funds available, the process stalled. I reported because I knew questions would come later so I wanted to clear my conscience,” lamented Mpaso.
He said he decided not to report the issue to police, because he believed it was not a case of theft but “a deliberate collection of government property” by a senior official.
However, he claimed the ministry did not do anything because the letter ended on the desk of Polepole, the same official implicated in the matter.
He said the shipper, Relotech Movers Company, that handled Polepole’s relocation confirmed, through documentation, all the missing items were delivered to his house in Lilongwe.
He further claimed when the new ambassador General Peter Namathanga arrived in Harare, he had to be accommodated in a lodge for four months as the official residence was inhabitable.
But Polepole distanced himself from the allegations yesterday saying he only took a laptop while the rest of the items were left in Harare.
Former diplomat and international relations expert John Chikago expressed sadness that abuse of office continues to happen in the country’s foreign missions.
He said immediately after their appointments diplomats are given orientation where the embassy assets issue is clearly spelt out to them.
Explained Chikago: “Nobody is entitled to collect embassy property back home when recalled. It is public property that belongs to government and when leaving it is supposed to be left behind.”
He said what happened in Harare was a sign of purposeful lack of understanding of the issue or “sheer vandalism of embassy property”.
“What happened was stealing…because during our time that was a straight police case,” said Chikago.
Democratic governance expert and public policy analyst Mavuto Bamusi described the alleged conduct of Polepole as an act of pure theft by a diplomat.
Bamusi, who is Political Science Association (PSA) spokesperson, further defined the conduct as “undiplomatic and criminal” which must be condemned with the strangest terms.
While calling for the need to strengthen accountability systems in embassies, he demanded the ‘missing’ assets to be recovered and returned to government with the concerned diplomat and ministry officials being held accountable.
