UTM 44-car document misses at ACB offices
A query statement relating to a probe into the source of funding for 44 new vehicles allegedly bought by the UTM Party has gone missing in files at the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), we have learnt.
A private citizen Gosten Chinseu claims the UTM Party allegedly acquired the vehicles through Khwesi Msusa, a contractor and an alleged sympathiser of the party. He lodged a complaint with the ACB to look into the source of funding.
However, in an interview on Wednesday, Chinseu said a statement he made on the matter in May has gone missing at ACB, adding, that the bureau wants him to make a fresh statement.
He said: “You remember, I made a query with the ACB twice, the last was in May 2022. But on August 18, I was invited to the ACB to provide a statement on the query I had made. I was surprised because I already made that statement in May.
“The officer this time, (name withheld) said she could not find a statement in the original query file even in the duplicate, but I told her that the officer who opened the file already got my statement. The officer, who was said to be on holiday, phoned and confirmed what I was saying, but the statement was still not found.”
Chinseu said he left the ACB offices that day without making a fresh statement, but indicated that he had assured the graft-busting body of his cooperation on the matter.
“I haven’t been contacted yet from August 18, but what I got from the bureau is that they want to investigate the matter. That is what I want and I am looking forward to it,” he added.
ACB principal public relations officer Egrita Ndala had not responded to our questionnaire by press time.
However, in May, ACB director general Martha Chizuma confirmed receiving the queries.
“I can confirm that we have received two queries and have combined them. We are screening the queries,” she said.
Earlier, when contacted, Msusa said: “The matter is in the hands of the ACB, and let us wait for them to do their work and they will let us know.”
UTM Party spokesperson Frank Mwenifumbo also said: “We have the ACB looking into the matter and we would want to leave it up to them. We believe in the independence of the ACB, and we want it to do its work.”
Last year, UTM Party’s partner in the nine-party Tonse Alliance, Malawi Congress Party, was also at pains to explain the procurement of eight Toyota Hilux pickups and a bus, saying the fleet was bought with proceeds from the sale of its land at the Lilongwe Game Complex.
Mid-August this year, Registrar of Political Parties Chikumbutso Namelo warned that he will whip political parties that will not declare their assets and sources of donations in line with the Political Parties Act.
He said his office was analysing submissions that some political parties had made, but could not disclose the parties that were yet to make the submissions after missing the July 8 2022 deadline.
The Political Parties Act of 2018, among others, compels political parties to disclose to the Registrar of Political Parties sources of their funding and any donations of specific amounts.
Meanwhile, the Malawi Law Society took the Registrar of Political Parties to court to demand that he discloses the sources and amounts of money the four major political parties received between January 1 2019 and December 31 2020.
