The former Finance Minister turns to scriptures but says nothing about the billions investigators say passed through his hands.
Former Malawi Finance Minister Simplex Chithyola Banda, now Leader of the Opposition and under arrest over the K39 billion Greenbelt scandal, has turned to God to save him.
In a public statement shared on the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Facebook page, Chithyola Banda avoided addressing the allegations against him entirely. Instead, he framed his situation in moral and spiritual terms, quoting civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
The statement came a day after the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) announced through its Facebook page that former President Lazarus Chakwera could face imminent arrest over related scandals. The Malawi Police Service and the Anti-Corruption Bureau have yet to issue formal statements on Chakwera.
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” — Nelson Mandela, quoted by Chithyola Banda
Chithyola’s message leaned heavily on themes of faith, unity, and resilience. His Mandela quote drew mixed reactions, with many questioning whether it implied an acknowledgment of wrongdoing or was simply a call for perseverance. He did not clarify. He thanked supporters who gathered at police stations and courts, expressed gratitude to Chakwera and MCP leadership, and ended with a prayer invoking “the Most Powerful Yahweh.” He also acknowledged those offering material support but declined to name them, saying doing so might “put them in harm’s way.”
Invoking God in a country where over 80 percent of the population identifies as Christian is not by accident. Chithyola appears to be appealing directly to the conscience and sympathies of ordinary Malawians, framing his arrest in the language of persecution and faith rather than accountability.
What he is charged with
Chithyola Banda is charged with money laundering and abuse of office in connection with the alleged looting of at least K39 billion from the Greenbelt Authority between March and July 2025. Investigators say the funds were siphoned through fake contracts, inflated procurement, and coordinated financial transfers. The ACB has alleged that some suspects already in custody directly implicated him, claiming they personally handed money over to him, and that part of the stolen funds was used to finance the MCP’s 2025 election campaign.
Already in the cooler: the full list
Chithyola is not alone in custody. Former Cabinet Ministers Samuel Kawale and Sosten Gwengwe, alongside former Secretary to the President and Cabinet (SPC) Colleen Zamba, were arrested earlier in 2026 in connection with the East Bridge and Fertilizergate scandals. The trio faces allegations of fraud and abuse of office centred on a web of billion-kwacha contracts awarded to the controversial Romanian firm East Bridge, and a K750 million fertiliser supply contract awarded to a London-based butchery, Barkaat Food Limited. The fertiliser was never delivered.
Gwengwe served as Minister of Finance before being replaced by Chithyola Banda on 31 January 2023. Kawale served as Agriculture Minister. The fact that both the man who held the finance portfolio before Chithyola and the minister responsible for agriculture policy are now in custody alongside him paints a picture of systemic looting that cut across the entire economic architecture of the Chakwera administration. Investigators say the arrangements were designed to loot public funds meant to address Malawi’s food insecurity.
The joint investigation by the ACB and the Fiscal Police Department has established that East Bridge was awarded billions of government funds to purchase tobacco from farmers, effectively trading with public money as though it were its own. “East Bridge got billions from the government to buy tobacco on the market under the pretext that it was East Bridge’s money. They also got soya and tobacco from farmers in exchange for fertiliser. They never delivered any fertiliser,” Platform for Investigative Journalism (PIJ Malawi) reported in February.
The East Bridge scandal has deeper roots. The company first came into public view when it was awarded a USD350 million (more than half a trillion Malawi Kwacha) contract to supply fertiliser to the Malawi government through the Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi. The deal, one of the largest fertiliser contracts in Malawi’s history, immediately raised red flags. Subsequent investigations revealed that at the time the contract was signed, East Bridge Estate SRL had already been declared insolvent by a Romanian court, raising serious questions about how the contract was awarded without full scrutiny by the PPDA and ACB.
Within the Greenbelt Authority itself, Director of Finance Linda Phiri, Procurement Manager Masautso Kamowa, and Infrastructure Development Manager Synoden Kautsi were arrested in January. Several private contractors linked to the schemes are also in custody. According to ACB, more arrests are expected.
The tit-for-tat question
The political context surrounding all of these arrests is impossible to ignore. The Minister of Homeland Security, who oversees the Malawi Police Service, is the DPP’s own Secretary General, Peter Mukhito, who was himself arrested under the Chakwera administration on corruption charges in relation to the importation of cement worth K5 billion that former president Peter Mutharika was alleged to have imported without paying tax. His deputy minister, Norman Chisale, was also arrested under Chakwera on separate charges. He was accused of unexplained wealth totalling K5 billion. Both had their charges dropped the moment DPP returned to power. Both maintained their innocence and accused the Chakwera administration of political persecution at the time of their arrests.
MCP is now making precisely the same accusation in reverse. Democratic Progressive Party’s announcement that Lazarus Chakwera’s arrest is imminent before the Malawi Police Service or the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has issued any formal statement is likely to lend credence to accusations of political persecution as lodged by MCP.
Critics and governance analysts say Malawi has settled into a deeply troubling cycle: each incoming administration prosecutes its predecessors, drops charges against its own, and calls anything directed at itself a witch-hunt. The faces change. The pattern does not.
The three scandals at the centre of the case
Greenbelt scandal: At least K39 billion allegedly looted from the Greenbelt Authority between March and July 2025 through fake contracts and inflated procurement. Funds allegedly used to finance the 2025 MCP election campaign.
Fertilizergate: K750 million paid to a UK-based butchery for fertiliser that was never delivered.
East Bridge: A Romanian company declared insolvent by a Romanian court was awarded a USD350 million fertiliser contract and billions more to purchase tobacco using public funds as though it were its own money.
Whether God or the spirits of Mandela and Martin Luther King can help Chithyola Banda navigate the K39 billion question remains to be seen as the court, not the scripture, will have the final word.
