Chakwera accuses Mutharika of shielding Chaponda

Leader of opposition Dr Lazarus Chakwera has accused President Peter Mutharika of publicly lying to Malawians that in his cabinet there is no minister involved in any sort of corruption activities.

Chakwera was speaking on Friday in the August House in response to the findings of joint parliamentary committee on the maize deal and the commission of inquiry that was led by Retired Chief Justice Anastasia Msosa.

The findings of the two inquiries established that former Minister of Agriculture Dr George Chaponda’s conduct raised suspicions of corruption in the process of procuring maize from Zambia.

Before the commission of inquiry findings were released, Mutharika said the maizegate issue was false and the inquiries useless.

But according to Chakwera, Mutharika through such rhetoric has nurtured, caressed, and promoted corruption in Malawi.

On Tuesday, agents of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) raided the home of Chaponda where they confiscated cash amounting to MK124 million and US$58,000 besides other currencies, and Chakwera suggested that the findings raised questions about the current administration.

“Mind you, this was not a raid on a suspected bank robber, but on the home of a sitting Government Minister. And not just any minister, but a man President Mutharika himself defended publicly as
clean, a man Mutharika himself entrusted to run the largest ministry in our country, and a man whom Mutharika still has as his party’s Vice-President to this day,” said Chakwera.

According to Chakwera, there is no sane Malawian who believes that Chaponda was a lone-actor, and the raid on his house has raised more questions than it has answered.

“If such a raid would result in recovery of about MK200 million what would have been recovered in a 3-hour raid? And how much would have been recovered had the raid been extended to other ministers, Mutharika’s aides and Mutharika himself,” the MCP leader said.