Well-known comedian Michael Usi-cum social commentator has strongly warned Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Dr. George Chaponda to stop using tribalism as an excuse in the maize-gate scandal.
Recently the commission of inquiry instituted by President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika and the parliamentary inquiry unanimously recommended the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to investigate Chaponda, saying his involvement in the procurement of maize was suspicious.
Reacting to these calls, Chaponda trashed the recommendations, saying the probe is being championed by northerners.
Chaponda also questioned the Parliamentary inquiry for not summoning Minister of Finance and Economic Development Goodall Gondwe who is also suspected to have played a role in the maize-gate scandal.
Speaking in an interview with the press, Usi who is also Deputy Director for Adventist Development Relief Agency(ADRA) said Maize-gate scandal is a national issue and not tribalistic matter as alleged by Chaponda.
“I am Lhomwe by birth, but I grew up looking at myself as a Malawian because the Constitution does not look at our tribes. It does not distinguish a Lhomwe from a Tumbuka or a Yao from a Tonga. All it says is that we are all equal and no one, not a single tribe, is above the law.
“It is disturbing that some of the people being investigated are using tribes as an excuse. The minister, like all people in power, should be cautious with their words. They must play a leading role in fostering the spirit of unity instead of dividing the nation along tribal lines,” Usi was quoted as saying in the Nation Newspaper dated February 20, 2016.
Usi has since asked the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) under President Mutharika to discipline Chaponda.
