ACB says it won’t investigate Vuwa Kaunda

Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has said it will not investigate presidential advisor Symon Vuwa Kaunda for attempting to buy government owned land from a fake Ministry of Lands official.

ACB senior spokesperson Egrita Ndala has told Malawi24 that the issue does not fall within the bureau’s mandate.

Kaunda was last week duped of K1.4 million after a trickster, who disguised himself as controller of lands at the Ministry of Lands in Lilongwe Felix Mangani, lied to the presidential advisor that President Peter Mutharika had offered him land to buy.

Commenting on the issue, social commentator Onjezani Kenani suggested that Kaunda engaged in corrupt conduct in buying land from a person posing as a Ministry of Lands official.

Kenani said there is need for the bureau to launch investigations on the scandal since the transaction was illegitimate.

He added that the fact that someone close to the presidency proceeded to transact, with full confidence, in such an illegitimate transaction, shows that the illegal sale of land and property is commonplace among the ruling elite.

But Ndala in an interview with this reporter said the bureau is not mandated to handle cases of this kind claiming it is the duty of the Malawi Police Service.

“This is not within the mandate of the Bureau. It is a matter of theft by trickery which was rightly reported to police,” Ndala told Malawi24.

Meanwhile, police say there has been no any arrest regarding the scam but the matter is still under investigations.