One of the social commentators in the country Onjezani Kenani has welcomed the arrested of three top officials of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on allegations of abuse of office.
The Malawi Police Service have arrested former minister of Finance Joseph Mwanamveka, and Former Reserve Bank Governor Dalitso Kabambe on suspicion that they committed an offence of abuse of office, contrary to section 95 (1) and procured the commission of an offence of fraudulent false accounting contrary to section 335 (A) of the Penal Code.
It is said that the two, whilst serving as Minister of Finance and Reserve Bank Governor respectively, procured and masterminded the falsification of Gross Liability and Net Reserve Base returns with intent to make International Monetary Fund believe that the Government of Malawi was meeting conditions connected to the Extended Credit Facility.
As a result of this scheme, IMF suspended the said Extended Credit Facility to the prejudice of innocent ordinary Malawians.
Writing on his official facebook page, Kenani hailed government for the arrests.
“The arrest of former Finance Minister, Joseph Mwanamvekha, and former Governor of the Reserve Bank, Dr. Dalitso Kabambe, is welcome news. These people are alleged to have falsified Malawi’s accounting to deceive the International Monetary Fund. That is a crime and they must face the law. Innocent, of course, until proven guilty.
“Likewise, the arrest of Mr. Ben Phiri in relation to alleged fraud at the Ministry of Gender is welcome news. Anybody who is suspected of stealing from the poor to enrich themselves must be held accountable,” wrote Kenani.
He added: “However, these arrests, welcome as they are, must not make us forget that a thief called Sattar and a large pool of government officials he bribed need to be arrested and hauled before the court.”
The three will appear in court soon.
