Police send team to quiz Mphwiyo in SA

The Malawi Police Service (MPS) has sent investigators to South Africa to interview Ministry of Finance budget director Paul Mphwiyo on issues surrounding his shooting on September 13 at the gate of his Area 43 residence in Lilongwe, officials have said.

Briefing journalists at the National Police Headquarters in Lilongwe yesterday, Deputy Inspector General (IG) of Police Nelson Bophani, who is also chairing the crime investigations committee on Mphwiyo’s shooting and looting of billions of public funds at Capital Hill, said the police are currently treating Mphwiyo as a witness and victim of the shooting.

He said: “We have sent investigators to South Africa to interview [Mphwiyo]. The investigators are not yet back. We want to get his side of the matter. [The investigators] left two days ago.”

Apart from Pika Manondo, a suspect currently reportedly at large, Bophani said police are also likely to arrest two more people they are hunting in connection with Mphwiyo’s shooting.

“There is a possibility of two more people to be arrested depending on the availability of Manondo,” he said.

On the Capital Hill looting, Bophani said they have since succeeded to freeze several bank accounts allegedly connected to the looting, saying they will move the courts to authorise transfer of the funds from the affected bank accounts into government custody.

He said the current looting at Capital Hill would have been avoided if the K400 million (US$1 081 081) scam case was pursued vigorously and timely.

“Investigations into the K400 million case are at an advanced stage. Criminals have been identified. If this matter were handled timely, my conviction is that the situation would not have reached this stage,” he said, adding that many people were encouraged to participate in the looting because the K400 million case was not handled seriously.

Bophani said police will also wait for results of the forensic audit on the government payment software, the Integrated Financial Management Information System (Ifmis) and Accountant General to make more arrests on the looting saga.

Currently, police and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) have arrested several people at Capital Hill in connection with looting of funds from the public pulse through the Ifmis.