Malawi Police Service with the blessings from President Chakwera have a while ago arrested Activist Silvester Namiwa of CIDED who was to hold a vigil at Malawi Parliament building, to demand answers from the speaker of the house, leader of government business Chimwendo Banda and Clerk of parliament Fiona Kale Kalemba on how a Baroda Bank loan Authorization bill of MK 93 billion was smuggled to parliament by President Chakwera’s advisor on special duties.
ARRESTEDNAMIWA
Pastor Martin Thom who is one of trusted men of President Chakwera was arrested but hours later he was released on bail before he fled the country for India.
Silvester Namiwa wrote the Police chief demanding answers on how Chakwera’s fired advisor was given bail without going to court and allowed to leave the country when other suspects are told to surrender the travel documents.
Malawi under Chakwera rule is going back to one party state where critics to the government were persecuted using the police.
Cvstos branded watches from supplier to Mkaka and Chakwera
Foreign Affairs minister Eseinhower Mkaka, secretary to the President Zangazanga Chikhosi, President Chakwera and his chief of staff Prince Kapondagaga are in hot soup , after a fuel supplier who was duped 500 thousand dollars in exchange of being awarded a contract to supply fuel to NOCMA which has failed , has threatened to report them to Ant Corruption Bureau and expose them we can reveal.
As ACB has given a go ahead to NOCMA to award fuel contracts, we can reveal that trouble is brewing up as some suppliers who were not awarded contracts are coming forward to lodge a complaint with the ACB on how senior Government officials including Eseinhower Mkaka who is Minister of foreign affairs and secretary General of Malawi Congress Party , Prince Kapondagaga and others pocketed five hundred thousand dollars in cash and how the same amount was passed on to the President.
The disgruntled fuel supplier who came to Malawi through a private jet which was cleared by Helen Buluma the NOCMA deputy CEO also facilitated their meeting with Chakwera at kamuzu Palace.
We have whatswhat’sapp messages where the honorable Minister Mkaka was giving out instructions to one of the supplier to make a designer made Cvstos watch for himself and 18.5cm for his wife which costs about $ 23,000 equivalent to MK 19.5 million each.
The deal between Chakwera’s trusted green jacketed boys with the fuel suppliers were brokered by Mr. Nyirenda in a private jet which recently picked Enock Chihana to Zimbabwe.
Apart from Mkaka, Kapondagaga and Zangazanga Chikhosi who are on one team against the rival team of Kambala which has been arreated, these suppliers had an audience with President Chakwera’s son in law who is also his executive assistant Sean Kampondeni and Pastor Martin Thom who recently got arrested for the controversial MK 93 billion bank of Baroda Loan Authorization bill.
We can assure the ACB that if they are fighting corruption, let them zero in on Mkaka who pocketed 500K USD and is using part of it to finance his microfinance company after the proceeds were shared and reached to the president.
MCP officials gave a clear instructions to ACB czar Chizuma to stop scrutiny on assets change of ownerships as a way of allowing MCP officials to clear their assets bought by laundered money without a trail.
We can reveal that MCP is afraid to have a leader at Financial Intelligence Authority as it’s close associates like Pastor Martin Thom who had a negative bank account balance now has millions whose source can’t be explained.
We have it on authority that pastor Thom and Sean kampondeni have bought farms and avoided interacting with banks by buying two hundred heads of cattle each without any bank loan or business activities that can support their overnight millionaire hood.
This publication is fully aware of Thom Martin’s four trucks which he was keeping at his church premises before they were taken to his newly acquired farm in Mchinji.
All thanks to the fuel suppliers who have vowed to spill the beans for the deal gone soul.
As that is not enough, one of the supplier has confided to this paper that he is getting death threats from Minister Mkaka for his continued revelations on the fuel deals which are implicating President Chakwera.
As ACB is arresting others on the abuse of office to influence tendering on fuel deal, let them also arrest Mkaka, Chikhosi and Kapondagaga who also corruptly acquired USD 500K From the same NOCMA scandals.
Those who have been following the National Oil Company of Malawi (NOCMA) fuel supply contract saga and are in the habit of using the essential matter called brain, will attest to the fact that the arrests of Minister of Energy Newton Kambala, Presidential Advisor Chris Chaima Banda and AFORD President Enoch Chihana are just a minute part of the story of high level corruption that extends all the way to the office of president and cabinet.
It is important to note that the three have been arrested after the Anti Corruption Bureau’s (ACB) ‘completion’ of investigations into the saga. The investigations were launched after two complaints were lodged with ACB in a long grueling battle between Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) and NOCMA on fuel supply contracts that NOCMA awarded to some companies.
The MERA board rejected NOCMA’s application for approval of prices for the suppliers that NOCMA selected citing concerns over overpricing. MERA suggested that NOCMA should select other suppliers (without naming any) or the same but at lower prices as submitted by the majority of the bidders. The reported difference in cost was a whooping 50 million united states dollars! Still, NOCMA through it’s Deputy CEO, Hellen Buluma fought vehemently in support of its decision to award fuel supply contracts to its selected companies.
We must take note that yesterday’s arrests are from the complaint that Buluma lodged with ACB at the height of the battle for award of the contracts. Although she might have had legitimate reasons for lodging the complaint, this was a way of making sure that the contracts are given to NOCMA’s selected expensive suppliers.
There’s a reason Buluma fought so hard to keep the selected suppliers. She is an interested party, personally and not as Deputy CEO. As we will see below, it’s a matter of life and death for her because her job is on the line, let alone how fat her pockets will be when the deals are sealed.
Since one of Buluma’s motivations is to keep her job, we must look at the people who have the ultimate power to fire her. Those people are the beneficiaries of her actions that have led to the arrest of Chaima Banda, Chihana and Kambala.
Going back to November 5th,2020, President Lazarus Chakwera, in one of his trademark eloquent speeches, instructed NOCMA’s board to look into the appointment of Helen Buluma, a previously known Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) diehard, as acting CEO of NOCMA under the Tonse government. This was after a public outcry on a known DPP member being appointed leader of a parastatal under an alliance that fought hard against the former ruling party.
Chakwera gave the board two weeks to look into the matter. The board ‘looked into the matter’ and decided to remove Buluma as Acting CEO. She reverted back to her position of Deputy CEO. However, this was just a smokescreen as Buluma is effectively the CEO of NOCMA. Former NOCMA CEO, Gift Dulla was suspended nine months ago. Since then, the position has remained vacant. The board that made this decision is chaired by the Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Mr Zangazanga Chikhosi. He is the one responsible for keeping Buluma’s job and one of the beneficiaries of her actions. By extension the ultimate beneficiary of her actions is President Chakwera.
The other beneficiary is Malawi Congress Party (MCP) which is the biggest hungry nthata that needs feeding. This is where MCP Secretary General Eisenhower Mkaka comes in. For the purpose of making this point clear, let’s ignore the fact that Mkaka is allegedly romantically involved with Buluma and it is in his best interest to keep her concubine employed.
As Secretary General, Mkaka needs MCP to have money. Lots of it. That’s the only way he can pursue his goal of breaking the Tonse Alliance agreement and make sure the next presidential candidate is MCP again! What’s the other way to achieve this than to benefit from the reported 50 million dollars that Chakwera and MCP are going to benefit from the fuel supply contracts Buluma has religiously defended?
Of course Mkaka also doesn’t want any competition for his appetizing seat of Secretary General, so the arrest of the ambitious Chris Chaima Banda, who is eyeing his post, is welcome news.
Let’s leave Chakwera’s Chief of Staff out the equation for now. We simply don’t have enough space to explain his role in the saga. We will pray for more space next time.
Any right thinking Malawian knows that the arrests are not necessarily Chakwera’s no nonsense application of the rule of law. They are just part of protecting Chakwera’s possible loot. They are also part of the wider political battles in the Tonse Alliance that are getting uglier by each passing day.
However, if in the course of these political battles, laws of this country are broken, I will be looking forward to the day the courts will convict anyone involved. For now, I’m waiting for the arrest of Mkaka, Chikhosi and Chakwera who are the major players in the NOCMA fuel supply saga. That will be the actual rule of law.
Outgoing President Lazarus Chakwera on Tuesday afternoon had a rude Awakening, when Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda SC told him open blank that it was not possible to sit on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) case in the court , which seeks to nullify the June 23, 2020 elections , we can exclusively reveal.
Chakwera and chief Justice Nyirenda
Chakwera who is panicking and spending sleepless nights summoned Chief Justice to State House last Tuesday.
In a meeting that lasted 1:48hrs, outgoing President Chakwera wanted chief justice to throw out the opposition DPP case stating that it lacked merit and was a watsage of court’ time .
However, the learned man Nyirenda told Chakwera that the matter cannot be set aside and the only way for justice to prevail bwas to certify it as a constitutional matter .
Nyirenda repeatedly reminded outgoing President Chakwera that he errored by not taking the advice from the attorney general and based on the legal implications that arose due to the firing of electoral commission which managed the elections that made him president, he risks loosing the presidency if DPP successfully defends the case.
According to our inside sources, Chief Justice Nyirenda told Chakwera that by the end of this month, the panel of five judges will be put aside to look into the matter .
Malawians are expected to go to another poll definitely in the coming year to elect another leader of the court nullifies the 2020 elections which elected Chakwera President.
This means that Former President Arthur Peter Mutharika and Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima will be reinstated for 90 days prior to fresh Elections.
We can reveal that there is serious nepotism at the National Intelligence Service of Malawi as eighty percent of the New recruits are coming from the Northern region where the Director General Dokani Ngwira comes from.
We can exclusively reveal that there were no advertisement nor proper selection and vetting of officers and the only the qualifications was that one must come from the Northern region.
Upon being recruited into the system the Director general has started transferring old.members of the institution away from the headquarters to regional offices and replacing them with the officers from the Northern region in an effort to consolidate power base.
The operations are not being done in consultation with the presidency as the office report directly to the office of the president.
The Director general has been challenging the senior management that no one can tell him what to do as far as running of the institution is concerned.
The current Director General was fired twice from the intelligence service because if similar issues. The first time was during the Bingu Wa Mutharika regime where he was fired because of laundering funds and buying flats and evaded arrest by running to South Aftrica then he found his way back during the Joyce Banda regime where he was again fired for abuse of office. Where he was selling intelligence to the former government officials. For the third time he has returned to his favorite office as a Director General using his connection to the disgraced personal assistant to the president pastor Thom who is also a senior pastor to self rewoned pastor Dokani Ngwira.
Now after being implicated in the furniture scandal using covid 19 funds.
We can reveal that the NIS boss has been caught pants down again by using MK 40 million office funds to buy his personal land.
Recently, there has been a promotion galore at the intelligence body and the majority of those promoted are his fellow northerners.
This has left the intelligence body divided with most of the officials there frustrated, a development that can compromise the safety of the country’s president.
Sikelo- Sacked by Airtel Malawi in a sexual harassment shame
Airtel Malawi has finally fired its Human Resources Director Alick Sikelo in a sexual harassment shame.
We can reveal that it has been long time coming for Sikelo to face the boot after several complaints from female employees over his sexual advances and harassment on them.
But now Airtel top management has now finally fired Sikelo after some female members of staff successfully lodged a complaint.
Sikelo: Sexual predator
“Yes he has been sacked,” confirmed one senior member of staff.
Airtel Managing Director Charles Kamoto could not be reached for comment.
But one top manager confirmed the sacking of Sikelo and pushed us back to Kamoto for official comment.
“But it’s true that he has been relieved of his duties but for details contact the Managing Director, ” said the manager who insisted that he should not be quoted as he officially does not speak on behalf of the company.
Insiders said Sikelo used his position to gain sexual favours from some women employees who were in return promoted while those who refused to give in to his sexual demands were victimized.
“Some of the women who were professional and refused to sleep with him were victimized but because he was being shielded by some big bosses who also do the same, he survived but this time it got to top management and that is why he got the sack,” said an employee privy to the issue.
Some female employees also lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman but the matter is yet to be concludes.
All is good and we are ready to host the 41st SADC Summit, Vice President Saulos Chilima has said.
The VP has been inspecting progress on preparations through out the week – pushing for results and giving deadlines.
By yesterday, SKC had a surprise visit to check if all was well and he was impressed on what has been done so far including his directives that he expected no ‘nosense’ on round about decorations.
The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) has ordered the National Oil Commission of Malawia, NOCMA, to procure fuel using the ex-tank method and not the Delivered Duty Unpaid, DDU, method, which NOCMA, through it’s controversial acting CEO, Hellen Buluma, had been adamantly insisting it would follow despite reservations from from regulators like MERA and other stakeholders.
The DDU method entails that the seller takes responsibility for the safe delivery of goods including taking care of transportation costs and in transit risks. With this method, however, suppliers identify transporters themselves, an element that is not favored by local transporters in Malawi who have argued that they could easily be bypassed for business by suppliers who would frown favoring foreign transporters.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-5948389036751815&output=html&h=280&adk=1813805126&adf=3505060681&pi=t.aa~a.1381849204~i.5~rp.4&w=701&fwrn=4&fwrnh=100&lmt=1628269923&num_ads=1&rafmt=1&armr=3&sem=mc&pwprc=3958195188&psa=1&ad_type=text_image&format=701×280&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.malawivoice.com%2F2021%2F08%2F06%2Facb-stops-nocma-from-procuring-fuel-using-ddu-method-as-it-had-insisted%2F&flash=0&fwr=0&pra=3&rh=176&rw=701&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&wgl=1&fa=27&uach=WyJXaW5kb3dzIiwiMTAuMCIsIng4NiIsIiIsIjkxLjAuNDQ3Mi4xMjQiLFtdLG51bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsXQ..&dt=1628269815178&bpp=4&bdt=8893&idt=4&shv=r20210802&mjsv=m202108040201&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3Da7d5a7927d5830e4-224e1e47aba700be%3AT%3D1619443902%3ART%3D1619443902%3AS%3DALNI_MZFw2Az9oKuoMohR89VnJ43Yf4kjA&prev_fmts=728×90%2C701x280%2C336x280%2C336x280%2C0x0&nras=2&correlator=7827254817256&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=1622674585.1628269807&ga_sid=1628269807&ga_hid=396202231&ga_fc=0&u_tz=-420&u_his=42&u_java=0&u_h=768&u_w=1366&u_ah=728&u_aw=1366&u_cd=24&u_nplug=3&u_nmime=4&adx=122&ady=1903&biw=1311&bih=658&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=20211866%2C31060032&oid=3&pvsid=1369763129283476&pem=346&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.malawivoice.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D19029%26action%3Dedit&eae=0&fc=384&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C1366%2C0%2C1366%2C728%2C1326%2C658&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7Cs%7C&abl=NS&alvm=r20210803&fu=128&bc=31&ifi=6&uci=a!6&btvi=3&fsb=1&xpc=IExpHnk7lJ&p=https%3A//www.malawivoice.com&dtd=M
DDU has also been argued to be more expensive than the ex – tank method. With the ex-tank method entails the seller delivering goods in bulk from a storage tank chosen by the seller.
Buluma however, is on record to have argued that the DDU method might appear expensive but is more secure than the ex-tank method and the costs outweigh the benefits considering the inherent in-transit risks.
The order for NOCMA to adhere to the ex tank method, is contained in a notice of a consent deal, signed by the relatively, freshly minted ACB Director, who is also arguably, the highly regarded, former Ombudsman, Martha Chizuma.
The notice reads in part,“…the Anti Corruption Bureau has completed investigations in respect to a suspected offense under the Corrupt Practices Act,“TAKE NOTICE that you may proceed to deal with the procurement process towards the award of the contract under procurement number NOCMA/ICB/FUEL/2020/2021.
The said procurement should follow the ex – tank method as per the existing High Court order”.
The Fuel Tankers Association of Malawian, an umbrella body of fuel transporters in the country obtained a court injunction against NOCMA’s use of the DDU method in the procurement of fuel.
State Vice President Dr Saulos Chilima has appreciated the level of preparedness done in the country ahead of the 41st Ordinary Summit.Dr Chilima was speaking after he toured some key areas for the forthcoming SADC Summit in Lilongwe.
Among other establishments Chilima visited, include Kamuzu Central Hospital, Bingu International Convention Centre, Golden Peacock Hotel, Sunbird Capital Hotel, and Presidential Villas.
Dr Chilima has also hailed the Malawi SADC Organising Committee for doing a commendable job in readiness for the Summit.
“I am impressed with what I have seen today and happy because even if it can be today we can be able to host the meeting as most of the preparations are at 100 percent,” said Dr Chilima.
Malawi will host the 41st Ordinary SADC Summit, Heads of State and Government in Lilongwe from Monday, August 9 through Wednesday, August 19.Mayeso Chikhadzula
The US and Germany Governments have donated assorted medical supplies valued at over K442 million to help disrupt Malawi’s resurgence of COVID – 19 cases.
The supplies from Germany include 60 ventilators and 5000 Oximiters valued at over K369 million with the US pumping in about K63 million in hospital supplies. Speaking when he presented the items on Thursday afternoon in Lilongwe, Head of the Germany Development Cooperation GIZ Sabin Lindemann said the gesture is meant to help curb the pandemic.
“We believe that these items will help improve hospitalized patients care and save lives,” said Lindemann. In his remarks when he represented US Ambassador to Malawi, Richard O Stanley said the K63 million donation was building on his Government’s arlier gesture. “In May this year, the US embassy donated nearly K125 million in hospital overflow tents and classroom shelters,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda has expressed gratitude for the gesture, adding that the help is timely. Reported by Mirriam Kaliza, MBC Online Services.
