ACB launches probe into Malawi civil service
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) says it launched an investigation into the entire public service a long time ago in relation to cases of corruption.
ACB spokesperson Egrita Ndala made the revelation following information that the bureau is investigating the offices of the Budget Director and the Accountant General under the Ministry of Finance following suspicions that the two offices have been at the centre of fraudulent cheque encashment of huge sums of money from government coffers.
The investigation into operations of the two offices is said to have been directed by the Office of the Malawi President and Cabinet (OPC) following what transpired after the shooting of the budget director Paul Mphwiyo on September 13 2013 in Lilongwe, according to inside sources.
However, in an e-mail response to questions on the probe of the two offices, Ndala, while confirming that there is an ongoing investigation in the public service, denied that the ACB got instructions to institute the investigations.
She said: “The ACB has been conducting investigations in relation to corrupt practices in the public service. This [has] been going on for some time now.
On the specific probe in the budget office and the Accountant General’s office, she declined to go into details, arguing that an investigation requires some sense of confidentiality for it to be conducted objectively and professionally. She said divulging more information would jeopardise the investigation process.
“Suffice to say that it is progressing well. There are some people who have been arrested following the investigation, some of them as reported to the media last week,” said Ndala.
Last Thursday, the ACB arrested two public officers after receiving a complaint alleging that an officer from the Accountant General’s office was conniving with Malawi Police Service officers to corruptly defraud government of huge sums of money.
The two, currently on bail, are Robert Nantchito then accounts assistant in the Ministry of Lands but now working with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Alice Namata, a principal administrative officer in the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Culture.The ACB said the investigation revealed that Nantchito entered payment vouchers amounting to K11 598 513.43 (about $24 000) and K8 203 518.86 (about $20 500) in favour of two companies that did not supply any goods or services to the Ministry of Lands.
The two companies are Khanye Investments belonging to Maxwell and Alice Namata and Hannet Enterprises belonging to Hunter Kavinya.
The investigations also found that Nantchito allegedly tampered with financial information from IFMIS amounting to K73 355 924.27 (about $184 000)
Soon after Mphwiyo’s shooting, Malawi President Joyce Banda said he was targeted because of his fight against corruption and fraud, although some circles have connected the shooting to some fraudulent activities involving huge sums of money being withdrawn from government accounts through his office and that of the Accountant General.
The fraudulent activities also touch on people taking advantage of the government Integrated Financial Information Management System (IFMIS).
Mphwiyo is currently at Milpark Hospital in South Africa where he is getting treatment.
The incident was also followed by an announcement by the Treasury Department that it has further tightened controls over the IFMIS payment system.
A source within the OPC also disclosed that after the shooting and following the issues that have been emerging especially on social media, the OPC directed the ACB to specifically target the offices of the Budget Director and the Accountant General in the investigations.
However, in an interview on Thursday, OPC public relations officer Arthur Chipenda denied that the OPC issued such directive to the ACB.
“The ACB takes up matters to investigate independently without any instruction or direction from the Government,” he said.
