Malawi's Anti-Corruption Bureau has arrested former Director Reyneck Matemba for accepting bribes for contracts to supply food to the country's police services. . John Suzy Banda, former Director of Malawi's Public Procurement Authority, was also arrested. Both are expected to be formally charged with abuse of power and could face up to 12 years in prison if convicted.
An anti-corruption department spokesperson, Egrita Ndala, said in a statement that Matemba and Suzi-Banda, a businessman, have been working to provide Malawi police with 350,000 food ration packs worth US$7,875,000. He said he was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of receiving kickbacks from Zuneth Sattar.
According to her, an investigation found that Matemba had $10,000 in her pocket as a benefit of the food distribution contract review process.
Suzi-Banda receives her 3,000,000 MK (US$2,900) from Sattar's agent Zun Cheena, influencing Suzi-Banda to award Sattar's company a contract for the Malawi Police Service without objection. Did.
George Fili, a political science lecturer based in Mzuzu, northern Malawi, said the arrests underscore how deeply corrupt Malawi is.
"It is significant that they have arrested the former head of the Anti-Corruption Bureau and it shows the whole picture of the country. It shows that every branch of government does." Judiciary, legislative, executive, all these were found in corruption cases," he said.
Martha Chizma, current director of the Anti-Corruption Department, said last month that Malawi has been less than a week without new revelations of corruption.
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According to the Corruption Bureau, Matemba, who is currently out on bail, has not yet been formally charged. The defendant cannot be prosecuted unless Est," he said.
However, Firi says this worries her.
``Because it makes no sense to arrest in the morning and release on bail in the afternoon.
However, Justice Department officials say the Malawian government is working to address challenges that are delaying the conclusion of various cases.
They cite that Malawi's President Lazaro Chakwela recently appointed seven new High Court judges to clear up backlogs in the courts.
The arrests of Matemba and Suzy Banda come amid a 20-week anti-transplant campaign in Malawi launched by Chakwela last month.