Cashgate wanted back in House

Some MPs and party representatives have spoken with rare unanimity that the new National Assembly should revive and pursue the Cashgate and Jetgate scandals to their logical conclusion.

All outstanding business, including a Public Affairs Committee (PAC) report on the loss of billions of kwacha from Treasury, also known as Cashgate, and how the proceeds from the sale of the presidential jet were used, died out naturally after the House dissolved by the operation of the law, two months ahead of the election.

Speaking in the absence of the party’s publicity secretary, governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)’s vice-president (Central Region) Hetherwick Ntaba, said the need to have the two scandals pursued was obvious.

“It is not about what the DPP wants, it is whether there is interest among the general public, the international community, the politicians, the members of Parliament and all sectors of our society that these issues should be pursued. And the answer is positive,” said Ntaba. “But speak to the secretary general, Dr. Jean Kalirani. She is the one mandated to speak and will give you the party’s position on these matters.”

Kalirani could not pick her phone for two days but former leader of the DPP in the House, George Chaponda, who was also a member of PAC, said the party’s position will be known when its members of Parliament meet in caucus on the eve of the first sitting of the National Assembly.

“We will have to be procedural. We have to meet as a caucus. We have to elect the Speaker. The parties must choose their leaders in the House. Then the Business Committee must be constituted and meet to decide the business that will be transacted during the sitting,” said Chaponda.

Mangochi Central MP (UDF), Clement Chiwaya, who was also a member of PAC, said there is need to conclude the Cashgate matter and explanations given on the sale of the presidential jet could not be over-emphasised.

“We need to know who stole our money. We also need to know how a whole presidential jet was sold without any amount of money being received into the Consolidated Fund. We want to know who spent the proceeds from the sale and who authorised him or her,” said Chiwaya in an interview.

The former leader of the UDF in House recommended that the matters should not just be revived but the new PAC should be allowed to do more work to fill the gaps that may have been left by the previous committee.

“There are different dates when Cashgate is said to have happened. Some say it happened within the three months of the People’s Party (PP) administration. Others say it started before that time. We need concrete information to deal with these gaps,” said Chiwaya.

PP deputy publicity secretary Ken Msonda was in no man’s land on whether the Cashgate and the Jetgate scandals should be reintroduced for further consideration of the National Assembly.

“My party does not have a position that I am aware of. But speak to the secretary general, Mr. Paul Maulidi, he is in Lilongwe with our MPs, and I am sure they are discussing such matters,” said Msonda.

As we went to press yesterday, Maulidi never picked up his phone. But the Monday edition of our sister paper, The Nation, quoted Msonda as expressing worry that the new administration intends to persecute members of the previous administration in the name of pursuing the Cashgate.

But speaking to national broadcaster MBC on Tuesday, Ntaba said the Cashgate could not be swept under the carpet as part of the olive branch that President Peter Mutharika offered to his opponents, including his predecessor Joyce Banda.

“Pursuing issues around Cashgate and Jetgate do not contradict the offer of reconciliation by the President. Vengeance does not include pursuing cases that are genuine and have facts which point to the law being violated. Vengeance means manufacturing cases against opponents because you think at their time in power they caused you pain. Cashgate is not a matter that has been manufactured by the DPP against its opponents,” argued Ntaba.

Malawi Economic Justice Network national coordinator Dalitso Kubalasa welcomed the need to have the Cashgate and Jetgate scandals fully discussed in the National Assembly, saying the process will help answer lingering questions and win back the confidence of the people and international community.

“We welcome any effort that will answer the many questions that linger around these matters. Whether the pilferage of resources started 10 years ago, 2 years ago, 3 months ago, what we need is to have redress. These things are impacting negatively on the economy, and we need to agree as a country that we have to take a different direction,” said Kubalasa.