State President Lazarus Chakwera, through his press secretary Anthony Kasunda, has declined to comment on calls from the Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) that State House Chief of Staff Prince Kapondamgaga be fired on corruption allegations relating to United Kingdom-based businessman Zuneth Satter.
CDEDI’s demands come from the background of President Chakwera’s televised national address aired on June 22, 2022, where he told the nation that 84 Malawians were named in a report that the then Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Director General, Martha Chizuma presented following the completion of investigations into an alleged high profile corruption scandal linked to Sattar.
Chakwera went on to suspend and arrest the then Inspector General of the Malawi Police Service, George Kainja, Mwambi Kaluba; the then Solicitor General and the former ACB Director General Reyneck Matemba and John Suzi Banda, skipping Kapondamgaga and 77 others.
The case has been progressing in UK courts and recently it commenced last week, Friday, 30th May 2025, at the Westminster Magistrate Court, UK, where Kapondamgaga is alleged to have received a bribe from Sattar.
The developments in the UK raised questions to CDEDI Executive Director Sylvester Namiwa, who, through the statement, questioned President Chakwera why Kapondamgaga still exercises his duties as State House Chief of Staff.
“If the documents from the aforementioned court are anything to go by, then it is no longer a speculation that there is a corruption allegation implicating Kapondamgaga since the matter is now before the court”, reads part of the statement.
Namiwa further asked the president to suspend Kapondamgaga until he is proven clean on the issue.
He said that Chakwera’s failure to suspend Kapondamgaga would show his lack of seriousness in fighting corruption in the country.
Meanwhile, when asked to comment on the matter, presidential press secretary Anthony Kasunda said: “I have no comment on that.”
