PAC to summon Covidfunds abuse suspects

 The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament (PAC) has vowed to ensure that every public official who abused Covid-19 funds should answer for their crimes.

The committee ’s chairperson Shadreck Namalomba made the remarks at Parliament Building in Lilongwe when Parliament leadership officially handed the investigative audit report on the K6.2 billion Covid-19 funds to the committee.

He said the committee had al r eady started investigating the matter based on the report by the Ombudsman and appealed to the Anti-Corruption Bureau and police to immediatel y launch separate investigations.

Namalomba added there will be no sacred cows and the committee will summon all officers mentioned in the report to appear before it and recommend them to criminal investigating agencies those found in wrong.

He said: “We are in the process of summoning people for mismanaging Covid-19 funds and this report will complement our work. All 21 members of the committee will be served with the report.”

Namalomba added that the committee will hear the inquiry after a seven-day notice to all the officials to be summoned.

Earlier when she addressed journalists, Speaker of Parliament Catherine Gotani Hara said there has been overwhelming public interest in the audit report hence the decision to share the information.

She said the development is also part of Public Finance Management laws and House procedures, adding the report has been forwarded to the Public Accounts Committee after it was received from the Auditor General.

Said the Speaker: “Parliament will not release the report because House procedures dictate that the document should be tabled in the House.”