Former chief secretary to the government Lloyd Muhara yesterday handed himself to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and is set to appear in court today for formal charging.
Muhara, who is also a judge of the High Court of Malawi, faces the charge of abuse of office for his alleged role in the allocation of government land to former minister of Irrigation and Water Development Charles Mchacha.
The latter is also answering corruption charges alongside former minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Symon Vuwa Kaunda and Ministry of Defence Principal Secretary Bright Kumwembe over the same case.
In a telephone interview yesterday, ACB director general Reyneck Matemba confirmed Muhara’s arrest for alleged abuse of office.
He said: “He handed himself to the bureau and we have finished questioning him. For now, all I can say is he has been arrested in relation to the issue of Mchacha, Vuwa Kaunda and Kumwembe.”
Muhara’s questioning at ACB headquarters in Lilongwe lasted three hours before he was taken to Lilongwe Police Station where he spent the night.
Today, the State will formally charge Muhara and accord him an opportunity to apply for bail, according to Matemba.
The suspects have been arrested after it was discovered that the plot allocated to Mchacha at Kanjedza Forest in Blantyre belonged to the Department of Forestry.
The ACB initially said Muhara was reported to be in the United States of America; hence, his warrant of arrest could not be executed. However, this week it emerged that Muhara was within Malawi and he said he would hand himself over to ACB yesterday
