Minister of Natural Resources and ruling Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Secretary General Eisenhower Mkaka will be investigated by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) over allegations that he received a Mercedes Benz from businessperson Zuneth Sattar.
ACB Director General Martha Chizuma has confirmed that Mkaka will be investigated over the way he acquired the vehicle.
This comes as documents circulating on social media indicate that Msaka may have received the vehicle from Sattar who is accused of bribing 53 public officials and defrauding Malawian taxpayers through contracts worth over K150 billion.
A report published by Platform for Investigative Journalism indicate that the UK National Crime Agency, after raiding Sattar’s house in the UK, found a document listing vehicle which Sattar had shipped to Malawi.
One of the items on the list said: “On 26th June 2020 – two Mercedes 5350d L AMG registration KT17OAO and FY65LZE to Walvis Bay, [Namibia]. Value of vehicles £22,350 and £22,550.”
The documents circulating on social media appear to show that the Mercedes 5350d L AMG registration KT17OAO was received in Malawi by Mkaka.
The vehicle’s bill of lading, issued to acknowledge receipt of cargo for shipment, indicates that the vehicle was shipped from Southampton in UK to Walvis Bay in Namibia.
It also shows that the consignee was Eisenhower Nduwa Mkaka of P.O Box 1230, Lilongwe in Malawi. The document has the vehicle’s registration as KT17OAO, the same as one of the Mercedes Benz on the Sattar list.
The chassis number WDD2221322A338705 on the bill of lading matches the one on a Malawi Revenue Authority document which Mkaka shared on Facebook in 2020 in an attempt .
A certification for entry of goods duty free filled by Mkaka and dated August 21, 2020 shows that the Minister received Mercedes 5350 with chassis number WDD2221322A338705.
Mkaka in 2020, after questions arose about the vehicle, said he bought it at 45,000 British Pounds using his own money.
“I have several sources of income which enabled me to afford this car. At that point, I had been working as an MP for a year. Secondly, in June this year, I announced that my former employers, the First Merchant Bank, compensated me after winning a court case against them. I even announced this here on my Facebook page in June this year when I got the first tranche of the compensation. Thirdly, through my wife, I have been carrying out a business of agricultural commodities for years. All these made me afford to buy the car,” Mkaka posted on Facebook in October 2020.
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