Chakwera caught pants down

Malawi president Lazarus Chakwera has been caught with pants down.

Chakwera told the nation yesterday that K535 million out of K6.5 billion Covid-19 funds were used to repatriate Malawians from South Africa.

The Malawi leader said the money was used by the Department of Disaster Management Affairs to facilitate screening, testing, feeding, sanitation, security, transportation, and lodging of 19,858 Malawians who have thus far come back home from South Africa.

However, a whistleblower and member of the ruling Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Yamikani Kachingwe has said his president was lying.

Kachingwe said Malawian returnees did not come back to Malawi through a repatriation exercise but through self-repatriation hence it is an insult for the president to claim that the returnees were repatriated.

“Malawians from South Africa never benefited from this money directly and in fact the General Consulate in South Africa is just milking Malawians completely dry with their expensive Emergency Travelling Certificate fee (R750 for everyone including infants). In which the Government of Malawi is losing more than K15 Million weekly as these ETC are issued without the General Receipts. All these millions are going into the pockets of some Officials at the Consulate.

“We buy our own bus tickets, we pay for luggage and we buy our own water and food during our 5 to 8 days journey,” he said.

He added that in Malawi returnees are taken to isolation centres which are mostly government owned buildings where they are only given food and soap.

“So how in the world did the Chakwera’s administration spend the K535 Million?

“They should just indicate the money was used to pay allowances and transportation for the govt officials and not forgetting the millions covering their numerous meetings at Sun and Sand Holiday Resort in Mangochi,” said Kachingwe.