CDEDI demands probe into State House officials over bribery claims

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A rights group has asked President Lazarus Chakwera to launch an inquiry into senior State House officials accused of soliciting bribes from businesspersons.

The grouping Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) said this in a statement on Saturday signed by its executive director Sylvester Namiwa.

This follows a letter by a Malawi Congress Party pressure group which accuses Chakwera of employing his relatives and cronies from his Church, the Assemblies of God, at State House, and that these people are involved in corruption.

Namiwa in the statement said CDEDI agrees with the MCP pressure group on their call for President Chakwera to do a serious soul searching on his administration.

“We would like to challenge him to institute an inquiry on the serious allegations that have been leveled against his senior staff at the State House, who the MCP grouping is accusing of soliciting bribes from the Malawians of Asian origin, and that the president should distance himself from such people,” said Namiwa.

He also tackled the issue of the alleged mismanagement of the MK6.2 billion that was meant for the Covid-19 response, saying it’s a loss of direction in terms of Chakwera’s commitment to honour the Tonse’s campaign promises that were contained in their consolidated manifesto.

Namiwa then called on Chakwera and other Tonse alliance leaders to jointly address Malawians on the status of the alliance and provide a timeline on how their campaign promises will be fulfilled.

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