Jet probe on course—Govt

Government says it is making progress with plans to probe whether the sale of the presidential jet to Bohnox Enterprises Limited alongside arms purchase from the parent company, Paramount Group, during the PP administration were fuelled by kickbacks and corruption.

The development comes hot on the heels of the DPP government’s decision to cancel all outstanding contracts worth K58 billion with the South African company which were signed by the PP administration.

Ministry of Finance spokesperson Nations Msowoya said in an interview this week cancelling the contracts did not mean the end of the investigation.

He said government was still pursuing both deals to uncover what really happened.

“We have been making inquiries on the matter and we are making progress. The arms deal is now being pursued as part of the wider investigations at the Malawi Defence Force where a company has been identified to audit some contracts while the jet deal is a separate matter. I may need to cross-check the other details but we are certainly making headway with both investigations,” said Msowoya.

Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe revealed earlier on that government was planning to investigate the sale of the jet and later government cancelled outstanding contracts with the South African arms manufacturer.

As revealed by this paper in September, the cancelled deals with Paramount Group, worth around $145 million (K58 billion) involved fuel, agriculture and arms supplies but the new Peter Mutharika administration considered them, “expensive and illegal.”

Government said it will just pay for equipment and supplies worth $31 million which have already been delivered.

Speaking in a separate interview, Information and Civic Education Minister Kondwani Nankhumwa claimed government wants justice in the matter to prevail.

“Both issues are still being pursued. The Ministry of Finance is the one responsible for the two matters. As government our interest is just to ensure that justice prevails,” said Nankhumwa on Tuesday.

A few days in the office after the May 20 elections, the DPP administration launched a fresh forensic audit over the Cashgate scandal and announced probe into the controversial sale of the former presidential jet by the Joyce Banda-led government.

Just as its purchase by the administration of former president the late Bingu wa Mutharika, the sale of the jet also attracted controversy as it later transpired that it was “battered off” to offset a $19 million debt with the Paramount Group.

The Joyce Banda administration then further claimed it was not aware that Bohnox was part of the Paramount Group.

However, government had previously given conflicting explanations on the sale of the jet including how the State had used the proceeds—prompting some donors such as the United Kingdom, opposition parties and the civil society to demand an investigation.

Malawi coughed $22 million to buy the Dassault Falcon 900EX jet in 2009 under Mutharika’s rule, a move that angered western donors who claimed part of donor funds aimed at uplifting an impoverished citizenry were used to procure the jet. n