The Malawi Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) is investigating how a substandard bridge constructed in April in the commercial city of Blantyre cost the taxpayer close to half a billion Kwacha.
Whistle-blower and Journalist Idriss Ali Nassah revealed in a tweet that the cost of the bridge has led to the investigations.
“The Anti-Corruption Bureau in Malawi is investigating how this bridge, constructed by the government of ousted President Peter Mutharika in the city of Blantyre in April 2020, came to cost us$600,000. yes, six hundred thousand American dollars,” he tweeted.
Commenters on Nassah’s tweet also wondered how such an amount of money was used for the bridge.
“Maybe they imported everything from cement, sand, concrete pebbles and water,” wrote one of the commenters.
Mutharika, under whose administration the bridge was built, ruled Malawi from 2014 to June this year when he was ousted by Lazarus Chakwera in the 2020 presidential elections.
Since Mutharika lost the presidency, there have been reports of corrupt acts masterminded by people who were close to Mutharika, including former ministers and aides.
In July, the Chakwera administration suspended contracts awarded during the Mutharika administration to pave way for an audit.
