CSOs want Parliament to summon ACB director
Some civil society leaders have petitioned the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament to summon Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) director general Reyneck Matemba to Parliament to clarify some issues.
In the petition, which was presented to Parliament yesterday, the CSOs are demanding that the ACB director should explain, among other issues, how far the bureau has gone in investigating former president Peter Mutharika.
The petitioners—Billy Banda, Philip Kamangira, Unandi Banda and Luther Mambala—also want Matemba to explain the suspicious award of a contract for the supply of ambulances by the Ministry of Health to Grandview International Limited of Lusaka, Zambia.
The CSOs want the ACB to investigate how the contract was awarded to a foreign company when a local company participated in the bid and offered to supply the same at a much lower price.
Reads the petition in part: “We are aware that Malawi has potential companies and individuals who can deliver on the same and, therefore, any attempt to award this contract to a foreign national is denying Malawians an opportunity to economically succeed.”
The petition was received by Legal Affairs Committee member Bester Awali, who promised to deliver it to Speaker of Parliament Catherine Gotani Hara for her action.
Said Awali: “After presenting the petition to the relevant authority, I expect the chairperson of the Legal Affairs Committee to convene a meeting and invite and subpoena the ACB director.”
The CSOs further want the ACB to explain progress on investigations into Peter Mutharika’s involvement in the cement saga which it is undertaking.
Additionally, the CSOs leaders are also trying to impress upon Parliament to make ACB probe the K7.6 billion legal fees award by the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal to Vice-President Saulos Chilima and President Lazarus Chakwera’s lawyers in the presidential elections case this year.
They have also demanded probes into the alleged K5 billion contract to renovate State Residences, procurement of a Lilongwe City Council vehicle and the source of money amounting to K500 000 each that all Tonse Alliance parliamentarians were allegedly given after having an audience with Chakwera soon after being sworn in as President.
