Lingadzi Police in Lilongwe yesterday arrested two Bingu National Stadium (BNS) staff members on suspicion of misappropriating money Prophet Shepherd Bushiri paid for use of the facility.
In a telephone interview yesterday, the station’s public relations officer Salome Zgambo said they arrested an assistant accountant and an auditor, but a third suspect—the principal accountant—is at large.
“Yes, we have arrested the two this morning [yesterday], but the third suspect is still at large. But we have charged those in our custody with theft by public servant,” she said.
Added Zgambo: “If we fail to take them to court on Monday, then we will do so on Tuesday because we have to follow the 48-hour rule. But being a weekend, that 48-hour rule does not apply, so it will only apply on Monday.”
She further said they hope to apprehend the third suspect before the two are taken to court so that they all appear in court together.
When contacted for an update on the matter, which our sister paper Weekend Nation reported yesterday, Ministry of Youth and Sports spokesperson Symon Mbvundula confirmed the development but referred us to Lingadzi for more details.
Bushiri, who fled South Africa in November, is said to have paid K5 million as deposit for his Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) crossover event at the facility on New Year’s Eve. The stadium management backtracked on the agreement.
ECG issued a 50 percent down payment of K5 million in cash to BNS, but from that, only K800 000 was deposited into government’s Account Number One.
Documents we have seen show that ECG paid the deposit on December 1 and were issued a receipt number 666233. One document shows K1 million was also paid a few days later.
