The United States Embassy in Malawi has condemned the Malawi Government under President Lazarus Chakwera for waging a war against Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) director general Martha Chizuma.
In a statement today, the embassy has said the actions of the government have severely undermined the credibility of the Chakwera administration’s fight against corruption.
In December, Chizuma was arrested over her leaked audio and last week Secretary to the President and Cabinet Colleen Zamba suspended Chizuma due to the allegations relating to the audio.
This week Malawi Law Society (MLS) obtained an injunction against the interdiction of Chizuma as well as the arrest and continued prosecution.
However, the government through Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda yesterday made an urgent application to vacate the injunction.
“The Attorney General’s urgent application yesterday a court order isssued earlier this week culminates two months of harassment by Government of Malawi officials against Anti-Corruption Bureau director general Martha Chizuma,” the United States Embassy has said in its statement.
The embassy has also expressed concern that no one who carried out or authroised the arrest of Chizuma has been held to account but instead a Commission of Inquiry established by the Government released an “unbalanced report” that did not address violations of Chizuma’s fundamental rights.
According to embassy, it expects government to actively pursue the fight against corruption and not to wage a campaign against “anti-corruption champions”
“We have actively engaged senior government officials to seek renewed commitment to the fight against corruption but those efforts have not yielded results.
“Our shared commitment to Malawi’s development depends on trust that Malawi will use public resources including development funds transparently, fairly and with accountability .
“These recent actions undermine the credibility of the Malawi Government’s stated commitment to the fight against corruption,” reads part of the statement.
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