Police in Lilongwe have arrested seven Ministry of Health (MoH) accounts officials over allegations that they had a hand in misappropriation of millions of kwacha meant for fuel at the ministry.
MoH spokesperson Adrian Chikumbe confirmed yesterday the arrests of at least one official.
Chikumbe said he is aware that police had arrested one accounts official for misappropriating K1 million, but said the arrest of the other officials can be confirmed by fiscal police.
“I can, indeed, confirm that one officer at the ministry has been arrested over misappropriation of money to the tune of about K1 million meant for fuel,” he said.
National Police spokesperson Nicholas Gondwa while confirming the arrest of the seven declined to divulge more information, saying further arrests were to follow.
A source at the MoH said for the past week, fiscal police have been questioning officers in the accounts department.
The arrest comes a few months after some officials at MoH were also arrested for misappropriating funding from a donor, the United States Aid for International Development (USAid).
Recently, Minister of Health Peter Kumpalume warned officers in his ministry that those caught in malpractice will face the law.
The ministry has been rocked in a drug pilferage crisis where drugs and supplies worth K5 billion are stolen annually. n
