‘Mutharika must go’ – activists

Human rights activists have urged Parliament to commence impeachment proceedings against President Peter Mutharika.

The activists under the grouping Human Rights Defenders Coalition have called upon the Speaker of the National Assembly to convene parliament as a matter of urgency and commence impeachment proceedings.

This follows revelations contained in a leaked Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) report showing that President Peter Mutharika benefited K145 million from the proceeds of the Pioneer Investment fraud scheme through an account

held at Standard Bank to which he is a sole

signatory.

In a statement, Chairperson for Human Rights Defenders Coalition Timothy Mtambo and Vice Chairperson Gift Trapence have also asked Mutharika to step down.

“Given that there is enough evidence to show that the President benefited from this scheme and that he is serious about fighting corruption, we demand that he honorably steps down with immediate effect in order to pave way for prosecution,” reads part of the statement.

The activists have expressed sadness that the scheme was championed by people who were believed to have been fighting against corruption and fraud.

“The revelation is that such commitments have been nothing but a barrage of empty promises otherwise referred to as rhetoric,” says the statement.

In the statement, the activists have asked that Section 91(2) of the Republican Constitution be amended in order to remove the president’s immunity from investigation and possible prosecution.
They have also called upon the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Financial Intelligence Authority to urgently prosecute people mentioned in the ACB report.

“We call upon all senior police officers implicated in this scheme to resign and pave way for further investigation and prosecution.

“Meanwhile, we are calling upon all Malawians of goodwill to sign a petition calling on the state president to go. #mutharikamustgo,” the activists say.

They have since threatened to call for mass-action if these demands are not addressed within 14 days.

Last week, Malawians also called on Mutharika to resign following the revelations that he got K145 million in kickbacks from a businessman who defrauded government of K466 million.
The leaked report by the Anti-Corruption Bureau says businessman Zameer Karim was fraudulently awarded a K2.3 billion contract to procure ration packs for Malawi Police Service (MPS).

Zameer Karim together with MPS Director of Finance Innocent Bottoman used that deal to steal K466 million and launder K1.4 billion. The businessman then sent K145 million to a Standard Bank account whose sole signatory is Mutharika.