By Sylvester Chibwana

Former president Professor Peter Mutharika on Saturday led Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in winning and dining at the glamorous Mount Soche Hotel in Blantyre.

The event according to the speakers was aimed at sourcing money for the party.

Glancing at the speeches one quickly concludes that it is true, as Malawians, we forget easily.

Just picking one point from Mutharika in which he said in 2020, he left a powerful economy with months of imports cover.

Mutharika further added that he has been willing to assist the current Government with his boys to change the status of the economy and that he has just given up on his attempts on this one.

What Mutharika said at Mount Soche on economy was a total bunch of lies. The truth of the matter is that the DPP Government was a government of crooks to the extent that all contracts were awarded to their loyal boys for easy transfer of corrupt cash to Mutharika and the corrupt DPP.

President Peter Mutharika received K145 million from a businessman who raised the money after defrauding the government of K466 million through a fraudulently awarded K2.3 billion contract, according to a leaked report by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

The report which circulated on social media and was classified as secret showed that the money was defrauded from the Malawi Government through a deal for the procurement of 500,000 ration packs.

According to the report, Malawi Police Service (MPS) awarded a K2.3 billion contract to Pioneer Investment for the procurement of food ration packs for MPS.

The company which is owned by Zameer Karim signed the contract with MPS in August 2017.
Six months later, the company asked for an upward adjustment of the contract from K2.3 billion to K2.79 billion with the difference being K466 million. This was fraudulently approved by MPS Director of Finance the late Mr G.I Bottoman.

ACB also established that Late Bottoman and Karim connived to award Pioneer Investment the contract.

When Karim received payment for the supply of the packs in 2016, he deposited K145 million to a Democratic Progressive Party Standard Bank Account number 014003192200.

Mutharika opened the account in 2015 and is the sole signatory. After the money was deposited, the president withdrew K65 million from the account between January and October 2016.

“His excellency President Peter Mutharika benefited K145,000,000 from proceedings of Pioneer Investment fraud scheme from Malawi Government through DPP account at Standard Bank to which he is a sole signatory,” says the report.

Mutharika was not prosecuted because he was protected by Section 91(2) of the constitution of the Republic of Malawi.

In its recommendations, the ACB said late Bottoman and Karim should be prosecuted for stealing K466 million, forging and uttering false documents to CDH and for acquiring K1.4 billion while knowing that the money was proceeds of a crime.

Then Mutharika coming out cleaning himself today is a total falacy.

Again Mutharika mentioned developments under his administration but failed to talk about Mombera University. It is sad that he did not talk about it and yet the University was receiving K4Billion funding every year as salaries for its academic staff like Deans and lecturers.

Mutharika should stop Treating Malawians as his babies.