ACB probes Mkaka’s car

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) says its investigation against Minister of Natural Resources Eisenhower Mkaka will include authenticating documents which are flying around on social media, alleging that he may have received a gift from Zunneth Sattar.

In a written response to our questionnaire yesterday, ACB director general Martha Chizuma said the bureau has taken interest in the allegations and will investigate the issue.

She said: “We, however, need to clarify that the investigations that the bureau is currently conducting on Zunneth Sattar’s corruption allegations are largely based on information the bureau received which covers the period between March 2021 and October 2021.

“From the documents going around we note that the transactions regarding this car took place in 2020. This is outside the period of the information.”

The ACB director general stressed that the bureau’s concern as per its mandate is not just whether one received gifts from Sattar but the “concern is whether in so doing one acted corruptly”, adding that “only those who acted corruptly and breached any other written law will be taken to task”.

Chizuma, therefore, said the bureau’s mandate is to authenticate the documents that have gone viral.

“We also would like to clearly point out that as a bureau, the documents from which the public are getting details of this car need to be authenticated and this will form part of the investigation,” she said.

The documents linking Mkaka’s car allegedly from Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA), which we had not independently verified by press time, show that the vehicle,  a Mercedes Benz 5350d L AMG, then with a registration number KT17OAO, was allegedly shipped to Malawi on June 26 2020 through Walvis Bay, Namibia.

The same type of vehicle allegedly appears on the list Sattar is keeping. It was valued at 22 350 British pounds which is about K28 million at the current exchange rate.

The UK-based Sattar, under investigations by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and Malawi’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), stands accused of corrupting government officials in exchange for multiple government contracts.

The car linked to Mkaka is said to have been cleared by MRA on August 21 2020.

Mkaka, in a response to a questionnaire on Saturday, said he would exercise his right to remain silent on the issue.

However, on October 19 2020, Mkaka posted on his Facebook wall to dispute similar allegations, claiming he bought the car using his own money.

The minister, who is also Malawi Congress Party (MCP) secretary general, said in the post that he had never received a single kwacha through corruption from anyone.