Police have arrested Norman Chisale, the former bodyguard of Malawi’s ex-president Peter Mutharika, in relation to the importation of duty free cement worth K5 billion.
Chisale was summoned by Police in Lilongwe on Monday and he surrendered himself to the law enforcers today.
The arrest follows revelations that over 1.2 million bags of cement were imported duty free between 2018 and 2019 with Mutharika’s Taxpayer Identification Number (TPIN) being used in importation of the cement.
The Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA), on three occasions, gave State House the go ahead to import cement duty free.
According to documents Malawi24 has seen, businessperson Mohammed Shafee Ahmed Chunara of Prestige Import and Export was also involved in the deals.
Police confirmed on Monday that Chunara was questioned by the law enforcers last weekend and according to reports, Chunara implicated Chisale.
There are also reports that the cement was collected by State House officials and later resold at wholesale.
Last week, former Deputy Commissioner General (DCG) of the MRA Roza Mbilizi was also arrested for facilitating the importation of the cement.
Mutharika ruled Malawi for six years from 2014 and was booted out of the presidency in the 2020 Fresh Presidential Elections.
Since Mutharika was ousted, there have been revelations of crimes committed by officials in his administration.
