Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda is yet to move on the alleged Salima Sugar Company Limited fraud one year after he vowed to make all suspects named in a forensic audit report to account.
During a press conference in Lilongwe on December 5 2023, Nyirenda, accompanied by Minister of Information and Digitisation Moses Kunkuyu and Salima Sugar Company executive chairperson Peter Kossam, also promised to recover the abused funds.
A forensic audit report last year revealed that over K50 billion was misused at Salima Sugar Company where government was, previously, a minority shareholder with a 40 percent stake and an Indian investor held 60 percent.
The forensic report showed that senior government officials, including Cabinet ministers in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration were among suspects of this fraud.
While former Salima Sugar chairperson is under prosecution in relation to his role at the company, none of the politicians and former public officers has been taken to task on their alleged wrongdoing.
Nyirenda promised to respond to our follow up inquiry, but has not done so since Monday this week.
Ministry of Justice spokesperson Frank Namangale said the process has taken long because in criminal investigations care is required in gathering information.
He said: “Following the revelations, we immediately instructed the relevant institutions to undertake comprehensive criminal investigations. This process understandably took some time, as we prioritised careful gathering and verifying evidence before proceeding”
After the release of the forensic audit report, former secretary to the Treasury, now Reserve Bank of Malawi Deputy Governor McDonald Mafuta Mwale said the Treasury had begun its own inquiry to establish how an investor was identified to partner government.
He is on record as having said there were no available records to show if the selection process was competitive and in line with the law.
Chakaka Nyirenda also said his office does not have the information but suggested that the investor was handpicked against the law.
Government terminated the partnership with the Indian investor, AUM Sugar, whose leader, former executive chairperson Shirieesh Betgiri is under prosecution in Malawi.
Kossam is yet to respond to our questionnaire, but he is on record as having said the company is now making more money than before and that they need a K23 billion bailout to pay for debt inherited from the previous management.
In an interview, Treasury spokesperson Williams Banda said Treasury is not aware of the proposed bail out but stressed that government is working on a turnaround strategy to ensure value for money.
