Mpinganjira clears the air, ‘I don’t want politics’:  FDH  boss denies he will succeed Mutharika

Business mogul Thomson Mpinganjira has dismissed assertions that his FDH Bank funds the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and that he wants to succeed President Peter Mutharika in 2024.

Addressing a news s conference in Blantyre  on Tuesday, Mpinganjira, who is Chief executive Officer for FDH Financial Holdings, parent company for FDH Bank and other subsidiaries, said he has never been involved in politics and hold no ambition to join politics.

“I, Dr. Thomson Mpinganjira has never been involved in politics and hold no ambition to join politics,” emphansised Mpinganjira.

He said in recent weeks there have been malicious allegations against him personally and FDH bank that he funds the ruling DPP.

“This allegation is false and malicious and simply aims at tarnishing my image and the image of the business of FDH Bank.

“ The facts are clear that I am not involved in politics and I do not fund the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).  As a matter of fact, I have no plans to do that in future,” said Mpinganjira.

He also clarified on the government cheque of K4 billion paying the Chief Elections Officer just a few days before the May 21 elections.

“As was clarified by MEC, the funds (money) were transferred to cater for the various payments MEC makes to suppliers supporting the elections. Indeed, some media houses were also paid from the same account.”

“The name of the operating account is ‘Chief Elections Officer’(MEC), and this is normal for some Government Agencies and it was authorized by the Treasury in the Ministry of Finance.Please note that this account was opened during the time of Malawi Savings Bank (MSB) and FDH Bank just inherited it.  The operating account fully complies with all the legal requirements for operating a bank account in Malawi,” clarified Mpinganjira.

He also denied allegations that FDH Bank gets the ‘lion’s’ share of government business saying, to the contrary, FDH handles the least number of government businesses amongst the top five banks in the country.

“The fact of the matter is that amongst the top 5 banks, FDH Bank has the lowest Government business and this you can verify with the Accountant General.  Also from a risk management point of view, Government cannot keep all its accounts with one bank or give all the business to one bank as no one bank has capacity to handle a huge volume of Government business,” said the business tycoon.

He also rubbished reports that he plans to succeed president Mutharika in 2024.

“All my life I have run a business and I intend to continue and even after my retirement, I plan to play an advisory role to FDH businesses as well as get more involved with the local and religious communities through philanthropic activities. Therefore, there is absolutely no truth in this issue,” explained Mpinganjira.

On the future of the bank, Mpinganjira said FDH Financial Holdings group has ambitious plans to make sure that they reach every corner of the country to make banking accessible to all Malawians and beyond the borders in the next three years.

“This is the reason, while others are closing branches due to costs, we are expanding to drive financial inclusion. We may not make profit in these areas, but our brothers and sisters deserve banking services,” said Mpinganjira.

He then announced that FDH Bank is planning to List on the Malawi Stock Exchange to sell shares in the Bank to ordinary Malawians by 30 June 2020.

“In simple terms this will enable Malawians to own this Bank. Kindly therefore inform all Malawians to start saving for that great investment opportunity.”

“My appeal is that let us love our country and ourselves and build a better Malawi together. Let us spend our time encouraging and assisting more Malawians to get into serious sustainable investments that last into future generations,” said Mpinganjira.

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