Malawi President dissolves cabinet, warns anti-graft chief of misconduct

Lilongwe (New Ziana) -Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera on Monday evening dissolved his entire cabinet and gave a “stern warning” to the head of the anti-corruption body, who made sensational revelations about alleged high-level corruption in a leaked phone conversation.

President Chakwera made the announcement in a televised national address after the conversation went viral over the weekend.

In the leaked audio, Anti-Corruption Bureau director Martha Chizuma discussed some cases under joint investigations by Malawian and British anti-corruption agencies, and cast doubt on successful prosecution, saying many bigwigs had been bribed.

“In exercise of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, I have dissolved my entire Cabinet effective immediately, and all the functions of Cabinet revert to my office until I announce a reconfigured Cabinet in two days,” President Chakwera said.

He also said he did “not support the offer of amnesty to those who defrauded the government and the Malawian people.”

Meanwhile, Chizuma admitted that the leaked recording was authentic and constituted “misconduct” on her part.

“I have determined that the best thing to do in this instance is to keep a watchful eye on her general conduct of the bureau’s affairs in order to ensure that there are no other incidents of concern about her fitness for office going forward,” President Chakwera said.

“As such, I have given her a stern warning about what the law demands and what I expect from her as the person I appointed to that office.” he added.

Malawi has recently under the spotlight since some high-level political figures were accused of benefiting from deals involving a United Kingdom-based Malawian businessman.

New Ziana