April 17, 2021 Owen Khamula - Nyasa Times 3 Comments
Government says it is surprising with the seven-day ultimatum issued by the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) for the State to arrest abusers of the K6.2 billion Covvid-19 money.
Kazako: HRDC ultimatum misplaced
HRDC on Friday gave President Lazarus Chakwera seven days to interdict controlling officers at the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC), Capital Hill and in councils implicated in the abuse of K6.2 billion Covid-19 funds.
Minister of Information Gospel Kazako said President Lazarus Chakwera is the one who instituted the audit of the funds and the release of the report.
April 17, 2021 Owen Khamula - Nyasa Times 3 Comments
Rights activists, the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) is demanding audited reports for the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) and the Police on the abuse OF K6.2 billion Covid-19 funds.
You can seen the buns? President Chakwera on Friday having ‘Mapwevupwevu’ with top military officials when he hosted them
Gift Trapence, chairperson of HRDC said they have noted that although the Malawi Police Service and Malawi Defence Force both received substantial amounts from the Covid-19 funds, both institutions are conspicuously missing from the audit report.
But the National Intelligence Services has been found wanting in irregular allowances and that is highlighted in the audit report..
April 17, 2021 Owen Khamula - Nyasa Times 6 Comments
Rights activists are demanding that the government should investigate and blacklist all companies that inflated prices for goods and services during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In an audit report, it has been revealed that some companies inflated prices to benefit from the K6.2 billion Covid-19 money.
One such company is a fumigation firm owned by Pastor Martin Mainja of the Assemblies of God church and a close associate of president Lazarus Chakwera.
The Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) says government should investigate all companies that benefited from dubius deals as revealed in the report and if found in the wrong they should be blacklisted from ever benefiting from government projects.
April 17, 2021 Wanga Gwede- Nyasa Times 6 Comments
President Lazarus Chakwera is set to appoint Ombudsman Martha Chizuma as new director general of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) subject to confirmation by Parliament’s Public Appointments Committee (PAC) and expects to get a full in-tray of the graft-dogged Tonse Alliance government.
Chizuma has emerged the top candidate for the post of director general of Anti-Corruption Bureau
Chizuma has reportedly emerged the top candidate for the post of ACB czar and is set to its first female head.
Among landmark investigations she is expected to embark on is the squandering of Covid-19 response funds and key of the looting is how Office of President and Cabinet handpicked Pest Chem 1B in Covid-19 supplies which appreantly displays wrongful enrichment and irregularly awarded business opportunities at Parliament, Ministry of Health, Chancellor Colleg and Malawi Prisons.
Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has demanded for the immediate interdiction of senior controlling officers in government, including some at the Office of President and Cabinet and even those at local council level, to allow the rule of law to take its cause.
The grouping made the call during a media briefing held in Lilongwe on Friday on the K6.2 billion Covid-19 Disbursement Audit Report by the National Audit Office.
HRDC has since demanded an an explanation from President Lazarus Chakwera on the involvement of the Office of the President and Cabinet in the plunder of Covid-19 funds.
The grouping has given the authority seven days to bring to book all culprits of the abuse of these funds and if government fails to do so HRDC will go to the streets.