Govt tells Joyce Banda to shut up

Government has warned embattled former president Joyce Banda against disclosing any information she was privileged to access while serving as Head of State between April 2012 and May 2014.

But in his communication on the warning, Chief Secretary to the Government Lloyd Muhara has fallen short of indicating how Banda, who went into self-imposed exile soon after losing the May 20 2014 Tripartite Elections, has breached her oath.

In a letter dated June 21 2017 with reference number CAB/FP/3 under the subject ‘Oath of Secrecy’ that ironically “leaked” on Monday, the same day the Malawi Police Service (MPS) made public details about Banda’s warrant of arrest dated February this year, Muhara reminds Banda on the need to adhere to the oath of secrecy that required both current and former presidents, members of Cabinet, current and retired to observe secrecy and confidentiality.

Reads in part the letter: “I wish to highlight that the Oath of Secrecy that Your Excellency undertook when in office is still binding even after Your Excellency relinquished your duties as the President of the Republic of Malawi.

“In view of this, I would like to respectfully remind Your Excellency to refrain from commenting in the media or diverging [sic divulging] any information that Your Excellency were privileged to know while serving as President of the Republic of Malawi.”

In its Monday statement, MPS said investigations have unearthed evidence linking the former president to abuse of office and money laundering charges.

Before the letter, Banda’s recent public comments were in relation to the Lake Malawi wrangle with Tanzania in which she backed President Peter Mutharika’s stance that the lake belonged to Malawi.

In an interview on the programme Tiuzeni Zoona on privately-owned Zodiak Broadcasting Station in May this year, Banda backed the decision by the government to take the lake border dispute between Malawi and Tanzania to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague in the Netherlands.

Yesterday, Banda’s spokesperson Andekuche Chanthunya confirmed that the letter was genuine and reached the office of the former president last month.

He said the former president personally inquired from the Chief Secretary on the meaning behind the letter, but she was not told anything.

“The Chief Secretary confirmed with the former president that he had indeed written the letter but he would not cite the times in which the former president had allegedly disclosed privileged State information. In the end, he said he would get back to her but he has not done so,” he said.

Chanthunya said the former president was carefully monitoring the sequence of events since she announced her intention to return home.

Chanthunya added that Banda’s work outside Malawi and statements she makes were public and she had always concentrated on six key pillars which were education, women, economic empowerment, youth, maternal health and girls’ education.

However, Minister of Information and Communications Technology Nicholas Dausi, who is the official government spokesperson, said Banda was just being paranoid as similar letters were sent to former president Bakili Muluzi and other former vice-presidents.

But when queried on the wording ‘refrain’ which meant the Chief Secretary was aware that she had not adhered to the oath, Dausi said it was nothing sinister.

The Constitution in Section 81 (1) mentions of oath of office which does not specify observing secrecy.

In August last year, the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs carried out an exercise administering oath of secrecy to all civil servants not long before the Access to Information Bill was tabled in Parliament. n