Sixteen local civil society organizations (CSOs) have piled pressure on the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to expedite investigations into allegations that Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Secretary General, Eseinhower Mkaka, received a Mercedes Benz from corruption suspect, Zuneth Sattar.
The concerned CSOs expressed fear that delays in investing and prosecuting the case would give leeway to unscrupulous agents in the justice system and politicians to interfere thereby frustrating the cause of justice.
They made their sentiments at a press briefing held in Lilongwe on Wednesday evening. The concerned CSOs include Youth and Society (YAS), Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency (CSAT), National Alliance Against Corruption (NAAC), Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP), Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), Social Action for Development (SAfD), Centre for Civil Society Strengthening (CSS), Civil Society Coalition on Accountability and Transparency, Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre (MHRC) and Nyika Institute (NI).
Others are NGO Gender Coordination Network (NGO GCN), Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC), Citizen Alliance (CA), Malawi Economic Justice Network (MEJN), Malawi Health Equity Network (MHEN) and NGO Coalition on Child Rights (NGO CCR).
In his remarks, National Advocacy Platform (NAP) Board Chairperson, Benedicto Kondowe, said with the pace at which the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Masauko Chamkakala, is dropping cases, Malawians have every reason to be worried that all high profile corruption cases, including that of Mkaka, may be discontinued.
“We urge ACB to make haste in investigating and prosecuting this case so that Malawians should know the truth,” he said.
In October 2020, Mkaka announced on his Facebook Page that he had bought the second hand Mercedes Benz at a price of GBP45,000 (over K45 million).
Mkaka, who was first appointed cabinet minister on July 8, 2020, said he ordered the car on July 5, 2020, and a few days later, he wrote the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) to ask for duty-free clearance, which the authority granted.
“I have several sources of income which enabled me to afford this car. At that point, I had been working as an MP for a year. Secondly, in June this year, I announced that my former employers, the First Merchant Bank, compensated me after winning a court case against them. I even announced this here on my Facebook page in June this year when I got the first tranche of the compensation. Thirdly, through my wife, I have been carrying out a business of agricultural commodities for years. All these made me afford to buy the car,” Mkaka posted in October 2020.
But after being quizzed by the ACB, the MCP SG publicly acknowledged receiving a car from Zuneth Sattar, a confession that led to calls to have him removed from cabinet.
Mkaka confessed to having received two vehicles, a Mercedes Benz, and a Range Rover, both of which were traced to Sattar’s list of shipped vehicles. The Investigator Magazine linked the Mercedes Benz chassis to the same one Mkaka had provided publicly that he had bought before he became a Minister.
President Lazarus Chakwera fired Mkaka from the cabinet in January this year, but the ACB is yet to move on him, as their indications that another deal could be reached to save him from seeing any Police cells.
At one time, ACB Principal Public Relations Officer, Egrita Ndala indicated that the Bureau was still looking into this matter.
“We believe justice will be done on this matter,” said Ndala then.
