PAC summons RBM Governor

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament now plans to dig deeper into the role the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) played in the looting of taxpayers money at Capital Hill. It has since summoned the central bank chief Charles Chuka to answer their queries.

The committee meeting, which took place on Saturday in Salima to compile a fresh report to Parliament which incorporates recommendations from parliamentarians, agreed that RBM has not come out to explain how government resources were lost through cheques cleared by commercial banks and the central bank itself.

“Parliament resolved to summon the Reserve Bank governor to explain the role of the bank in the Capital Hill cash-gate. The governor is expected to appear before the committee on Saturday November 2,” a source within the committee told The Nation.

Vice-chairperson of the committee, Davison Nyadani, confirmed the development, adding that the committee would also be summoning the current Secretary to the Treasury Randson Mwadiwa and former ministers of Finance, Ken Lipenga and Goodall Gondwe, on the same.

“There are still some hanging questions, which we want other stakeholders to respond to. The committee just presented preliminary report to Parliament to provoke debate in the House and hear recommendations from the House, but there’s a need for a more comprehensive one once investigations have been concluded,” he said.

But the central bank’s spokesperson Mbane Ngwira said the governor’s office was yet to receive the communication from Parliament. He said the governor would consent to the summons if he is mandated to do so.

Meanwhile, PAC is expected to present a fresh report to Parliament on its findings and recommendations on Tuesday after consultations with various institutions working on the cash-gate such as the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

The committee has made 18 recommendations, but these are expected to increase after the business committee mandated the committee to incorporate recommendations members of Parliament made in plenary.