JB says jet sale report today
President Joyce Banda has promised Malawians that her Cabinet ministers will today give a comprehensive report on the sale of the presidential jet and how the proceeds were used following reports that Treasury never received the money.
Speaking when she addressed a news conference at the Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe on Tuesday, the President said she was informed that the proceeds of the sale of the jet, sold to Bohnox Limited for $15 million, would be used to buy maize, fertiliser for the Farm Input Loan Programme (Filp) and military equipment for peacekeeping.
But beyond that, the President said she had no more information and had given former secretary to the Treasury Randson Mwadiwa, who she suspected of leaking information to the press, the task of compiling a report on the sale.
“You will get answers from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Defence and the Attorney General on how the jet was sold. Whatever they tell you will be factual. I can’t speak for them and I am not responsible for everything. That’s not how government works,” said Banda when The Nation asked her to clear the air with Malawians on the confusion surrounding the sale of the presidential jet.
In response, Mwadiwa said Minister of Finance Maxwell Mkwezalamba Tuesday morning called for a meeting with the Chief Secretary to the Government Hawa Ndilowe, Attorney General Anthony Kamanga, Deputy Minister of Finance Cornelius Mwalwanda and Minister of Defence Ken Kandodo to explain how government used the money from the sale of the jet.
Said Mwadiwa: “We have compiled a statement and we will call for a press conference tomorrow [Wednesday] to explain how the jet money was used.”
In the past weeks, our sister newspaper Nation on Sunday reported that proceeds from the sale of the jet did not reach government coffers as expected and no money from the sale was used to buy drugs or maize as Minister of Information and Civic Education Brown Mpinganjira informed the nation last week.
Banda also dismissed calls for her to disclose names of companies and individuals who siphoned public funds estimated at K13 billion between April and September last year as established by a forensic audit report undertaken by a British firm, Baker Tilly.
She claimed she was not aware of the contents of the report, but said the British firm would be recalled to explain to Parliament.
In the same vein, Banda said she wanted the forensic audit report to be tabled in Parliament alongside a report of an audit which took place in 2010 before her government came into power. The report revealed that K92 billion was misused.
She also challenged the taxpayer-funded Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC), which has renewed calls for her to declare her assets in the face of the forensic audit revelations, saying her predecessors Bakili Muluzi and the late Bingu wa Mutharika should also make public what they declared before and what they amassed during their terms of office.
During the briefing, Minister of Health Catherine Gotani Hara blamed the problems at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) on the hospital’s management.
KCH was in the news last week after bodies decomposed in a mortuary following a breakdown of cold rooms. This week, the hospital has also been reported to have faulty elevators that are rendering mobility among patients difficult in the three-storey building.
Coincidentally, KCH director Dr Noordin Alide has since been moved to a unit in the Ministry of Health, sources confirmed on Monday.
The question that needs answers is: Why did the money not go into government account number one as required by the constitution? And also: where are the records of maize that was bought? Who got the maize?
She is, as usual, complicating simple matters. Should we not get the answers from the President, herself? The Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Defence, and the Attorney General report to the President. So, all they have to do is report to the President, and the President can, in turn, report to the Nation. Why make life difficult? why?
she is just to stupid, malawians wanted the jet sold, so as foreign donors and financial organisations. The money should have been pumped back into the economy i.e help reduce tax or fuel, even if by 2% or pumped into some economic sector..WE & DONORS DIDNT ASK BINGU/JOYCE TO SELL THE JET TO BUY MAIZE TO USE FOR CAMPAIGN, “BUY” BOATS FROM THE JET BUYER OR SENT 3000 TROOPS TO DRC, WITH THE MONEY,,,,Government doesnt sell its assets for unplanned expenditures, the money wasnt invested, atleast the Jet was an asset to see, although i hated it, than to use the money in THESE 3 UNAUDITABLE EXPENDITURES
let me speak in very simple day-to-day english, the guy who “took” the jet from us paid no money, he hires out the jet in south africa, Jb uses when she wants. the guy has also put it on the market to whoever can afford it. No money was exchanged. The guy has interest in DRC, so JB has to send up to 3000 troops for that sake, the guy then supplies used non military boats in return, AND MAIZE for PP people..no cash was involved..ITS ALOT OF BATER ( EXCHANGE OF GOODS) TAKING PLACE
Whatever JB said is sheer nonsense. Malawian can we really be fooled in this era, 20 years in democracy that we can not differentiat facts from fiction. JB made alot of fiction starting from handling of cash gate, jet sale, forensic audit, Malawi/Tanzania boarder issue, parliament meet. Now to day PAC, opposition, clergy, CSOs sitting down saying yes, we now have heard from the president. No ways. Mlawians havent demanded for auditors to come here. They had done their work. Whether rubbish work or not. Its normal for unprofessional audit report to be rejected. U dont ask them to ‘re-cook’.
hahah this is what makes me laugh, sorry miss president the jet was never sold to Bohnox Limited, the jet is with Fortune Air in South Africa , this is where it has been since sep 13 until atleast 26 January 14. However when looking at the details of where malawi bought its patrol boats, evidence indicates that the boats were bought from Bohnox Limited..this is something fishy crealy, AND TO WRAP IT ALL, DEAR MALAWIAN AND DONORS, PLEASE KNOW THAT BOHNOX HAS NO WEBSITE on Internet, imagine that 🙁
the jet was sold to Bohnox Limited, also last year reports suggested that the boats are sourced from Bohnox Limited, however the same jet was reg 7q-One malawi registration was used by joyce banda months after being sold to fly to mandela funeral and kenya independence in december 2013, as ref ZS-FCI, to which the nation was told it was from “her wellwishers”, in other words ” friends” or ” sponsors” of the party, these guys deal in supply of arms, this is why we have 3000 soldiers in DRC & we use jet money to finance that. Bohnox hasnt got a website, ever since the jet left malawi, it has always been operated/leased out by Fortune Air aTLeast until today it is on their website and u can see, their ANNOUNCEMENT when they just added it to their fleet last year, it is there too. APART FROM THE SOURCE OF THE MAIZE remaining unknown, it is clear that the Jet was batered, for boats and also that sending troops to DRC has benefited the the “buyer” as he supplies the “military equip for peace keeping”. SO JB IS RIGHT partially in what she is saying, only if u add what she is saying to this
Hold on a second Madame President, did I hear that you are not responsible for everything ??? This raises a big Question as to what you are responsible for as head of your own government if you can not follow on the proceeds of the sale of a Presidential Jet ( under your OWN instruction madam, remember!!!!!). The centre can not hold indeed. Iam really deceptioned.
IMadam JB, in simple terms you are not in control of the country and you have confirmed to us through your statement. It will be catastrophic to the country for a person like this to continue being head of the country. Who is then in control of those critical things that you are not responsible for? Are you only responsible for distributing free maize to pp supporters and buying buses to only later disown them? very serious abuse of trust