JB sets up crime committee, calls parliament meeting

Malawi President Joyce Banda has set up a crime committee to be headed by deputy police chief Nelson Bophani and instructed Speaker of Parliament to call for an early convening of Parliament following massive financial plundering that has rocked her government.

Banda says she has ordered the police to constitute a crime committee within its ranks to follow all cases leading to the cash-gate scandal and ensure that all people involved in the scandal are brought to book.

An angry-looking JB, in a defensive mood quickly exonerated her party’s involvement in the plunder and categorically refused to take action against any senior government or cabinet ministers who are said to be implicated in the scandal.

“I am yet to get reports, so until such a time, I cannot remove people,” said Banda.

President Banda was addressing the press in Blantyre upon arrival from US where she has been away for three weeks.

During the time she was away Malawi has been swimming is a sea of problems including financial plundering, unpaid salaries and University of Malawi lecturers downing tools over salary increments.

Malawi opposition political parties and Civil Society Organisations had called the president to come back to attend to the problems.

President Banda said it was disheartening to hear stories about the looting in government and said it was her government’s efforts to fight corruption in government which has been deep-rooted for years.

Corruption

The president tactically heaped the blame on previous governments of Bingu wa Mutharika and Bakili Muluzi for tolerating the vice during the time of their reign saying she should be praised for tackling corruption.

“Corruption has been going on for the past 20 years or so. In fact, the recent K61 billion saga [Bingu Mutharika case] and K404 million cases woke me up, on the plunder in the government. It’s obvious that public funds have been lost through fraud and corruption,” she said.

The President went flat out to defend her government officials purportedly involved in the infamous cash-gate scandal saying it was the same government that initiated the investigations.

“I am not dumb, if my government is involved in the corruption how then would I institute investigations. Do not force me to start thinking that this whole thing is about gender. It is because I am a woman,” Banda queried.

However, Banda could not answer most of the critical questions saying that she was yet to be briefed by her cabinet and other government agencies on what transpired in the weeks she was away.

In some instances, Banda consulted on the spot from the relevant government officials like when NPL’s Edward Chitsulo asked why police has arrested only ‘small fish’ [junior officers].

New measures

She, however, announced a number of steps her government will take in order to arrest the situation in the country.

Among other things President Banda has ordered parliament to meet early November, to among other things review the asset declaration law— as it stands—she said: “nobody has the powers to ask her to make a declaration of her assets”.

“I have asked them to meet as early as this month. I want the new law to target other government officials including principle secretaries…those in parastatals and directors in government ministries,” she said.

The President also ordered the country’s corruption busting body, the Anti Corruption Bureau, Police and Financial Intelligence Unit—money laundering fighting institution—to be sending reports to her regularly.

JB said she does not see the reason why she should resign when she is the one fighting corruption.

She boosted to the nation that she has a lot of money and that she cannot seek bribes saying: “I started operating businesses when I was 21 years and money is not a problem.”

—More to follow, also read full report in THE NATION tomorrow