The British Government has disclosed that it will not resume financial aid to Malawi until necessary actions to deal with corruption and the looting of public funds dubbed cashgate which dates back from the rain of former President the late President Bingu Wa Mutharika are taken.

The British government which is one of the country’s major donor stopped assisting the country directly last year after the news of plundering of public funds came to light.

During the debate on Thursday which its aim was to decided what the UK government should do to assist economic and social development in Malawi held in the House of the Lord in Britain, Department for International Development (DFID) spokesperson Baroness Lindsay Patricia Northover, said the House of Lords has resolved that UK aid to Malawi can only resume when a comprehensive forensic investigation dating back to 2005 is carried out.

“The United Kingdom is committed to ensuring that every pound of UK aid money achieves its intended results and maintains a zero-tolerance approach to corruption. This is why, in concert with other donors, we took the decision to stop providing all financial aid to the Malawian Government in November 2013.

“There can be no consideration of putting UK funding through government financial systems in Malawi until the necessary actions to strengthen these systems have been taken and independently verified. We will keep this situation under review”, said Northover.

Lord David Steel told the House that evidence suggests that over US$500 million was stolen during Bingu wa Mutharika’s 8 years reign before his untimely death.

David Steel said the Malawian people are living under kleptomaniacs who make a mockery of democratic principles of transparency and accountability.

Lord Steel recalled that Peter Mutharika’s led a lavishing lifestyle when he attended the UN summit where, in addition to taking a delegation of 68 people, lived in posh and expensive Waldorf Astoria Hotel where President Mutharika was allegedly paying over MK7 million a single night.

Northover added: “While we cannot work through government systems, the UK continues to work with Government and others for change in Malawi”.

The decision by donors to stop assisting the country financially has forced the DPP regime to implement a Zero-aid budget.