Govt suspends two for intimidating auditors at Malawi embassy in Ethiopia
Malawi government has suspended its two top officers at Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for allegedly intimidating a member of the audit team who are currently auditing the Malawian Embassy in Ethiopia following revelations that K293 million was siphoned out of the public purse and deposited into personal accounts.
Theft of public resources at the mission was detected April 2016 after former secretary for administration and finance, Fletcher Chowe, wrote a cheque in his name.
The cheque was signed by Malawi’s deputy ambassador to Ethiopia Doreen Kapanga.
According to the letter dated 29 April and signed by George Mkondiwa the Chiefs Secretary to Government, the suspended officials are Martin Kantikana the Deputy Director of the Administration as well as Grant Kayipa.
The suspension is for a period of three months but on full pay salary.
Mkondiwa said in the letter that the two asked Gift Mawango, a member of auditing team assigned to investigate at the Addis Ababa mission, to “safeguard” Chowe who has been involved in the fraudulent of the transactions at the Embassy.
The Chief Secretary said that the actions taken by the two were “prejudicial to the administration, discipline or efficiency of the Civil Service contrary to the Malawi Public Service Regulation 1:201 (19).”
Mkondiwa said in the letter that “in view for the above and in accordance to the Malawi Public Service Commission Regulation (MPSCR) 45 (1), I am here to suspend you from the exercise of powers and functional of your offices with the effect from 28 April 2016 to pave a way for the investigation of the allegation as well as un-interference progression of the audit in the Ethiopia.”
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Francis Kasaila said auditors who were assigned to investigate “have indeed uncovered massive fraudulent activities taking place at the mission”.
Kasaila said the officials implicated were using “a well-crafted operation” to siphon money out of the public purse, which they would then deposit in their personal accounts.
“The report shows this systematic and merciless plunder of public resources at the Addis Ababa mission started in 2013,” said Kasaila.
The fraud has all the characteristics of the infamous Cashgate, which saw government losing multi-billions of public funds.
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vuto lolemba ntchito ana achemwali ana achimwene apongozi. see now your failing to take action on the culprits. but what you should know is that you re punishing innocent people in the hospitals, schools, agriculture sector and many more institutions of which one day things will turn against you nothing is forever. mark my words. lero ndinu madolo mawa tiona adzakhala dolo ndani
Hehehehe!!! but this indeed is a crazy world.engaging civil servants to act like mafias kuopseza ma auditors..I have one free advice for you two “mafias” kaipa and kantikana, you are still young and please be useful to yourself and desist from being used by these filthy politicians. Remember, God is very much around, and is watching, do me a favour will you, stop this!!
I agree with Chindere 100 per cent.
koma malawi, aaah!!! now, when people steal all this money, what do they do with it? they steal money and someone else dies in hospital for lack of medicine. are they themselves going to be healthy after that? these people are naive: there is a law of karma; religious or not, we humans reap what we sow. when we deliberately cause death like this, the gods immediately put logs of fire on our bodies and we fall sick. our sickness could take years to manifest, long after the theft is forgottenits not surprising that healthiest BLOOD in the country is… Read more »
Well all these fraud havent started now. At foreign affairs Mkondiwa the current chief secretary was the PS when all this fraud was being perpetrated. He either is complicit to it or is an incompetent administrator that he never detected the fraud when he was PS. Surely he should have been examining expemditure returns and would have seen that expenditure was too high at addis embassy compared to other embassies. And with such incompetence ot dishonesty he is head of civil service. Are we surprised then that Malawi is the poorest country in the world?
Tribalism at its core. So chaponda recruited his sister at Foreign affairs to be spokesperson!!1 KKKKK
I also do not understand this government. Why are these thieves left unarrested. What is the government trying potray to the taxpayers. Dorreen has been a thief and is still a thief. Why is she still uncaught.
The truth about cashgate is that it benefits the powerful, including the presidents. This is corruption at it’s highest level. There is high chance that the proceeds from such loot benefited some parties. Ironically, when politicians change party colours they don’t change their character. Cashgate keeps hoping from one govt to another. Possibly, current govt’s cashgate will only be known after they’re out of power. That’s why parties aim at winning elections more than fighting corruption. Access to public Info law has been changed not to take care of what is happening today just in case current administration is out… Read more »
Its easy…Does Malawi really need an embassy in Ethiopia ? I didn’t thing so, close it down and safe tax payers hard earned money. That should go for embassies in other non functioning countries
No wonder Malawi is now a thieving nation.
We are even scared to arrest culprits. Main reason is that, if they’re arrested, they will spill the beans about being a well wisher to some party or some presidential iniative or some first lady’s trust.
Even the cashgaters know in advance how to bribe their way out.
Cashgate will be hard to fight if govt continue trampling on Access to Info bill.
Eventually, when we suggest it’s deliberate, they’re all arms up stalking whistle blowers.
Unfortunately, legal crooks are also in it. Who is not in it?