The investigation into involving cabinet minister Patricia Kaliati (pictured) that he received bribes from a United Arab Emirates consortium as an inducement to awarding it the Nyika-Vwaza Eco-tourism Concession appears to have stalled.Kaliati, Minister of Women and Children was named to have received bribes when she was Information and Tourism Minister from a United Arab Emirates consortium as an enticement to award it the Eco-tourism Concession.
She was also been named in receiving bribes from Access Communications Limited to award them a licence as the second fixed line telephony operator in disregard to a legal opinion made by Attorney General Hon. Dr. Jane Ansah against the award.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), which is responsible for tackling graft, has since shielded the minister from prosecution.
ACB director Alex Nampota briefing the media on the bureaus activities on Tuesday did not include the probe on Kaliati.
Ruling party spokesman Dr. Hetherwick Ntaba who was also named in corrupt practices when he drew foreign travel allowance without travelling during his tenure as minister has also have his docket swept under the carpet.
ACB had started numerous corruption cases against government officials and ruling party sympathizers but had not concluded them.
The Clerk of Parliament Mrs. Matilda Katopola was found guilty by a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on abuse of office charges for awarding her private firm a contract to supply stationery to the National Assembly, in a breach of public procurement procedures.
President Bingu wa Mutharika who set the political tone to deal with corruption pardoned her on grounds that the amount of money involved did not warrant disciplinary action.
Observers have noted that zero-tolerance policy on corruption of the Mutharika administration shields people supporting government involved in wrongful self-enrichment.
Citizens demand that there is need for all suspect to be subject to laid down fundamental beliefs and constitutional principles of the Malawi Constitution among which is equality before the law and in particular, legal equality where every person is equal before the law, social equality, so that there should not be class hierarchy sanctioned by law, economic equality and political equality.
The present impression in the minds of many Malawians is that the fight against corruption has only targeted members of the opposition and not members of government.
Recently, the media has been awash with reports of rampant corruption in the Mutharika government with the release of Auditor Generals report covering the fiscal year 2005 to 2007.
ACB boss told journalists during the media briefing that the bureau has since opened dockets on Malawi Police Service (MPS) and the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) to establish if public funds were abused following Auditor General Reckford Kampanje report to parliament and media reports.
The media reports were enough to warrant investigations. I have recommended the bureau to probe Escom over mismanagement allegations that the Parastatal spent K80 million on a Christmas party, Nampota told journalists.
The move comes just days after Malawi Economic Justice Network (MEJN), a coalition of civil society organisations concerned with economic governance, gave government a 21 day ultimatum to take stern action against Escoms gross mismanagement.
Mejn executive director Andrew Mkumbatira went even further to threaten that his organization would take the issue further if government shows unwillingness to pursue the matter so that the truth comes out.
However, the citizenry are developing a feeling that the fight against corruption is the fight against those that are in the opposition.
The case of interdicted Secretary for the Malawi Treasury Milton Kutengule on how he used a K20, 000,000 dividend paid to the Malawi Government by MTL Limited in February, 2005 has seen little progress.
Kutengule, was the sole signatory of a government account, against procedures which clearly indicate that government withdrawals require a minimum of two signatures, opened it at Finance Bank with an initial deposit of K20,000,000 which, nevertheless, depleted to a mere three million by the time it was closed in May 2005.
He said the money was used for MARDEF a government run rural credit scheme. Officials at MARDEF, however, denied receiving the payments.
Goodall Gondwe, who was the guardian and principal bursar of public money as former Finance Minister, denied any knowledge of the existence of this slush fund and the transactions.
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