EU for faster progress on Cashgate cases

The European Union (EU) has urged for faster progress of the Cashgate cases.
Speaking in Mzuzu on the sidelines of a dinner hosted for members of Nyika Media Club and officials from the National Initiatives for Civic Education (Nice) Trust, EU Ambassador to Malawi Marchel Gerrmann said his organisation is monitoring the cases closely.

“So far, it is still ongoing and we are monitoring it closely. Cashgate is really deplorable because at the end of the day, a lot of funds were embezzled and those should have been used for the benefit of the Malawians.
“There are investigations going on, prosecutions and a few convictions. Of course, we would like to see more of the process,” he said.
Gerrmann also said EU is looking forward to seeing prosecutors getting to the bottom of Cashgate and exposing everything.
He further said he was looking forward to a strong response on the independence of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
Said Gerrmann: “Recently, the Malawi Law Society questioned the independence of the ACB; these reports are very concerning and I really look forward to a strong response on that.”
He said his organisation will investigate any cases of abuse of its funds in the councils.
“In general, if we come across any issues of our funds abuse, we will investigate that as we have the procedures and auditors. We would recover the money and make sure that those involved have been prosecuted,” Gerrmann said.
Speaking in a telephone interview on Sunday, Institute for Policy Interaction (IPI) executive director Rafiq Hajat said government should be issuing reports on progress made on Cashgate cases every two to three months. n