Young pastors want Cashgate probes to go deeper
Young pastors in the Northern Region have urged Parliament and other government arms to leave no stone unturned in uncovering the multibillion kwacha Cashgate.
Young Pastors’ Coalition of Malawi (YPCM) executive director Reverend Patrick Banda, told journalists in Mzuzu on Monday there is need for Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament to delve deeper than the K13 million (US$32 258) said to have been plundered from the public purse in the past two years of Joyce Banda’s presidency and get to the bottom of the K92 billion (US$228 287 841) allegedly stolen during her predecessor the late Bingu wa Mutharika’s rule.
According to Banda, the commemoration of 50 years of independence on July 6 this year will be meaningless because Malawians are still wallowing in poverty, dying for the truth about the unfolding revelations of the theft of public resources confounded by the release of the forensic audit by Britain’s Baker Tilly which makes no mention of the names behind the national heartbreak.
“There is darkness in Malawi and it is this darkness that we are trying to drive away from at the moment. If we do not cast God’s light in all parts of the scandal, this darkness will come back and take over,” said Banda.
He said there is need to uncover all missing details if the country is to commemorate the independence anniversary with clean hands.
“With the massive corruption coming to light at the entry into the golden jubilee of our independence, we want all things that hinder our progress to be addressed. This is a crucial issue and nobody will be happy if any part of this scandal is left in the dark,” he said.
The stand comes barely a week after the Forum for National Development petitioned PAC to leave no stone unturned in its ongoing Cashgate probes, with its executive director Fryson Chodzi saying the scandal is “no political affair, but a national tragedy”.
