The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has dismissed assertions by Centre for Democracy and Economic Development (Cdedi) that the graft-busting agency is employing selective justice following the arrest of Vice-President Saulos Chilima last Friday.

In a statement issued on Saturday titled ‘After Chilima, who is next?, Cdedi executive director Sylvester Namiwa claimed that Malawi Congress Party (MCP) officials allegedly involved in corruption are given preferential treatment while those from UTM Party, MCP’s partner in the governing Tonse Alliance, are arrested for the same allegations.

Ndala: The public
will be informed

Cdedi cited t h e allowances scam at the Office of the Accountant General and claims that a high ranking MCP official received a Mercedes Benz from United Kingdom-based businessperson Zuneth Satar, who is answering corruption charges in the UK.

Reads the Cdedi statement in part; “Unless the above-mentioned officials are summoned for questioning, just like the way it has been done with the Vice-President Saulos Chilima and the Inspector General of Police George Kainja, then it will be construed by every well-meaning Malawian that the ACB is allowing some sectors of the society to be freely looting and plundering the country’s resource as long as they are in or connected to the ruling MCP.”

But in an interview on Sunday, ACB spokesperson Egrita Ndala said the bureau does not  consider party or any other affiliations when conducting its duties.

“When the investigations are completed, the public will be informed of the outcome,” she said.

Ndala added that the bureau is still investigating the matters cited by Cdedi, including revelations by former National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) acting chief executive officer Helen Buluma that some senior public officers attempted to interfere in fuel procurement deals.

In the Nocma issue, the State-owned company’s boardchairperson Colleen Zamba, who is also Secretary to the President and Cabinet, was mentioned alongside Ministry of Energy Principal Secretary Alfonso Chikuni and others as having played a role to influence the award of contracts.

But Chikuni, in an interview on Wednesday, dismissed Buluma’s claims as “atrocious” and half-baked.

In an interview on Sunday, Namiwa requested ACB to address issues of corruption in a way that does not give an impression of selective justice.

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