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Government is challenging ‘contempt of court’ charges filed by former Principal Secretary Christopher Makileni against Attorney General (AG) Chikosa Silungwe, Secretary to the President and Cabinet Zangazanga Chikhosi and Deputy Secretary to the President and Cabinet Janet Banda over a K754 million payout.

Makileni filed for ‘contempt of court’ against the officers, saying they are not paying the consent order which government and Makileni agreed on.

Lawyer Thabo Nyirenda confirmed representing the three public officers but refused to give further details, saying he does not speak for the government.

In his affidavit in support of the preliminary objections against ‘contempt of court’ proceedings and in support of the application to set aside the ‘contempt of court’ proceedings, Nyirenda said the proceedings have been commenced irregularly.

“The applicant was legally required to personally serve the order subject of the contempt proceedings on the alleged contemnors. The contempt proceedings herein have therefore been irregularly commenced and the contempt proceedings against the Attorney General, Mr Zangazanga Chikhosi and Dr Janet Banda are incompetent.

“Further, the applicant has not obtained any leave to commence contempt of court proceedings. As such, there are no valid contempt of court proceedings before this Honourable Court,” reads the affidavit in part.

In the consent order, Makileni and the government agreed that the former might have lost the money after being unfairly dismissed by the Democratic Progressive Party’s administration after he was accused of being a People’s Party sympathiser.

Makileni was awarded K216 million in pension, K205 million for loss of motor vehicle use, K269 million for salary before tax and K63 million for fuel as his benefits.

His lawyer Paul Maulidi insisted he did not apply for contempt of court as such but that he only asked the court to summon the three public officers to explain why they are not paying his client when there is a valid consent order.

He said after the application, he has been in touch with the AG to try and resolve the issue.

“There is a consent order which was duly signed by us and the government. They are not paying and all we are saying is that they should explain why. I talked to the AG so that we possibly review the consent order. But the review is not about the amount being too big,” Maulidi said.

Chancellor College Dean of Law Sunduzwayo Madise said the problem is that the two parties agreed in private and only brought what they had agreed to the court for endorsement.

“It would have been different if it was something argued in a court of law and then a judgment was made. We would have known arguments from both sides in that case and it would have been easy to comment on it,” Madise said.

There has been an outcry from various stakeholders including social media enthusiasts who are suspecting that there was conspiracy to defraud the government apparently because the awarded amount is too big.

Banda was recently quoted as saying that government had asked the AG to withdraw the settlement because it was allegedly signed in a hurry and without the authority of the new Secretary to the President and Cabinet in August even though he was in office.

UK Commits £10.8million to Tackling Serious and Organised Corruption (TSOC) Programme in Malawi

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Bossman

7 October 2020

UK Commits £10.8million to Tackling Serious and Organised Corruption (TSOC) Programme in Malawi

United Kingdom (UK) has committed an extra £10.8m (about K11 billion) to support Malawi in
tackling serious and organised corruption.

Since 2016, the UK has been supporting Malawi through the Tackling Serious and Organised
Corruption (TSOC) Programme to strengthen the anti-corruption environment and increase
penalties for serious and organised corruption.
The extra funding will see this programme being extended up to 2024, supporting law
enforcement efforts in asset recovery and addressing high-level crime.
Duddridge said: “To alleviate poverty, we must tackle corruption. The UK is committed to
helping Malawi do so, building robust institutions to tackle serious and organised crime.

Chakwera meets UK Minister

funding the UK can support this administration’s vision of fighting corruption by addressing
technical and political barriers to reducing corruption in Malawi, and building stronger public
financial management systems that help prevent corruption occurring in the first place.”
The TSOC programme will reduce the opportunity for corrupt activity by strengthening the
systems regulating how money and services move through the economy; and increase the
risks of engaging in corruption, by publicly exposing corrupt individuals and corporations,
seizing assets, and improving strategic casework and conviction rates.
The UK has been supporting the Malawian authorities to investigate high-level corruption
since the Cashgate scandal of 2013. Some of the notable achievements include:
The conviction of 17 individuals (14 having been sentenced to a total of 79 years in prison)
and MK782 million retrieved in assets linked to a major corruption scandal called Cashgate
with the help of UK technical assistance and forensic audit support. A further MK16.5 billion
has been identified in ‘sums at risk’ for forfeiture pending scrutiny by the courts.
Malawi’s legal system has been strengthened through the introduction of plea bargaining
and digital data analysis – with UK support – for the first time in select cases.
Enhanced digital forensic capability of the Anti-Corruption Bureau through a new digital data
forensic suite.
Improved international law enforcement cooperation with mutual legal assistance provided
by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and South Africa’s Public Asset Forfeiture Unit.
Strengthened civil society advocacy working in a flexible and adaptive way to explore the
deterrent effectiveness of innovative approaches to tackling corruption
In 2019, Transparency International rated Malawi 123/180 on its Corruption Perception Index.
72% of Malawians think corruption got worse in the last year according to the 2017
Afrobarometer data and only 64% of Malawians think ordinary people can make a difference
in the fight against corruption– down from 84% when last asked in 2013.
Global Financial Integrity estimate that £400m (USD585m) leaves Malawi illegally every year
– twice the country’s annual health budget.

MASM BOSS ARRESTED FOR BONKING UNDERAGED NICE -INFECTS HER WITH HIV

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Nation

Bossman

7 October 2020

Chief Commercial Officer for Medical Society of Malawi (MASM) Andrew Ngomwa is in Police custody for sexually abusing his 14 year-old niece.

Information in Malawi Voice custody indicates that Ngomwa was entrusted with custody of his blood- sister’s daughter. But he ended up sleeping with her.

“But when the little girl returned to her mother, she started showing some unhealthy signs and when the mother took her to hospital, she was diagnosed with HIV. After being quized she mentioned her uncle, Andrew Ngomwa,” said a source.

The source further disclosed that at a family caucus on the matter, Ngomwa tried to apologise but his sister put her foot down that she was going to let law enforcing agencies so their work on her libinous brother.

Police were not immediately available for comment but another source at MASM indicated that Ngomwa has not been reporting for duties for two weeks now.

DPP UDF Marriage Ends

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Politics

Bossman

7 October 2020

United Democratic Front (UDF) has said its alliance with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ended because it was an electoral pact.

According to sources, Muluzi is currently flirting with the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and has since been promised with a ministerial position during the next cabinet in-take.

UDF secretary general Kandi Padambo commenting on some members of the party who attended a rally organised by DPP vice president (South) Kondwani Nankhumwa in Blantyre, said the members were exercising their freedom of association.

Padambo clarified that the alliance was about the fresh presidential elections and that now that they are gone, there was no need to maintain the relationship.

“Of course we have a common denominator which is that both parties are in opposition so we still relate with each other very well,” he said.

Padambo said as a party, they do not have problems with ordinary UDF members attending DPP public rallies “after all we are both opposition parties.”

He said:“UDF members are free to attend political rallies even if Brown Mpinganjira of DPP holds a rally some people can attend in their own right. But as a party, we are done with the electoral alliance.”

The DPP and UDF working partnership goes back to Mutharika’s five-year term from May 2014. The two parties went into a working arrangement to guarantee votes in the National Assembly and support the government’s legislative agenda.

In that period, Muluzi held numerous ministerial positions. But in their arrangement pertaining to the fresh presidential election, Mutharika appointed three UDF members into various Cabinet positions, including Muluzi himself.

Currently, Mutharika is facing calls for an early convention to elect his successor after his defeat in the June 23 election. However, the former president has not taken lightly the calls and purging “renewal” faction which includes Leader of Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa, secretary general Grezelder Jeffrey, treasurer general Jappie Mhango and other members.

The development has led to formation of two factions with one being referred as DPP-Mutharika and the other DPP-Nankhumwa.

THINK PINK GETS K2.5 MILLION FROM NBM FOR CANCER AWARENESS

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Nation

Bossman

7 October 2020

Listed National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc has donated K2.5 million towards cancer screening and treatment of vulnerable men and women through a cancer awareness and rights organization, Think Pink Malawi.

Making the donation in Blantyre at the weekend, NBM plc Marketing and Corporate Affairs Manager Akossa Hiwa noted that the month of October, which is Cancer awareness month, NBM plc is taking an active role in driving awareness and making treatment or screening accessible to the vulnerable through several initiatives.

“The Bank is cognizant of the fact that annually, breast cancer is the cause of approximately 42,000 deaths worldwide. According to a 2015 WHO report, 7% of deaths in Malawi is caused by Breast Cancer. However, with early detecting and screening, this form of cancer is curable.”

“Therefore, awareness is critical to drive screening and early detection and thereafter, access to treatment is also critical. For this reason, we have contributed K2.5 million towards screening or treatment of vulnerable men or women through Think Pink. This money will be paid directly to the medical facility. We hope that it will facilitate patients’ access to care,” said Hiwa.

She said NBM plc will further work with Think Pink Malawi to raise awareness for both customers and members of staff through the sharing of vital information on risk factors, self-screening and how to access care.

“Internal initiatives will include a staff ribbon sales drive, where staff are raising funds to pay for treatment courses through the purchase of ribbons. The Bank is further observing Pink Fridays – where those that are willing to, have an element of pink on them each Friday of October, in solidarity of the cause,” said Hiwa.

Think Pink Malawi Co-Founder Eleanor Nkosi thanked NBM plc for the donation saying it will go a long way in helping creating awareness to the public about breast cancer.

“National Bank’s involvement in our campaign gives us incredible mileage and will help us spread our message to an audience all across the country. We are grateful to be joined by the bank of the nation on such an important campaign that affects all Malawians.”

“Think Pink was born in 2014 and this is our 7th year advocating for inclusive healthcare for all cancer patients so to be approached by a giant organization such as National Bank is very encouraging and a reminder that we are moving in the right direction in terms of creating awareness to the public,” said Nkosi.