Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Simplex Chithyola Banda has questioned the legality and timing of a call by Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (Cdedi) to subject him to a public audit.
Cdedi executive director Sylvester Namiwa made the call during a press briefing in Lilongwe yesterday where he said the initiative was aimed at
promoting confidence in the public service, including public officers and elected officials.
He said: “In exercise of its watchdog role, Cdedi, therefore, applied for access to declarations by Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Hon. Simplex Chithyola-Banda and Minister of Local Government Hon. Richard Chimwendo Banda, who also serves as MCP [Malawi Congress Party] secretary general to be the first candidates for ‘The People Power Forum’.
GOVERNANCE
promoting confidence in the public service, including public officers and elected officials.
He said: “In exercise of its watchdog role, Cdedi, therefore, applied for access to declarations by Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Hon. Simplex Chithyola-Banda and Minister of Local Government Hon. Richard Chimwendo Banda, who also serves as MCP [Malawi Congress Party] secretary general to be the first candidates for ‘The People Power Forum’.
“Formal invitations have already been dispatched to the two candidates for them to appear before Malawian taxpayers, who also entrusted them with the positions they hold, to justify their current wealth in relation to what they declared in 2019.”
But Chithyola-Banda, while affirming his commitment to accountability and good governance, questioned the legality and timing of the initiative.
He said: “This is a voluntary exercise and I fully reserve the right to attend or not. The entity calling me, to my knowledge, does not possess any legal mandate to summon public officers.
“There are recognised institutions in our system with the proper jurisdiction to carry out such functions, and should any of them invite me, I will honour that invitation without hesitation as I always have.”
Chithyola-Banda noted that his responsibilities as Minister of Finance demand focus, especially at a time when the country is navigating critical economic challenges.
For the first time since the assets law came into force in 2013, the Office of the Director of Public Officers Declaration has named and shamed about 1788 public officers for non-compliance during the 2022/23 financial year.
The office said that before the September 16 2025 General Election it will also publish in the Malawi Government Gazette Supplement names and status of declarations by public officers in the 2023/24 financial
