Accountability organization wants corrupt Malawian "oligarchs", enablers sanctioned

MALAWI: The Centre for Public Accountability-Open Malawi has today formally requested that the UK, US, and South African governments trace and recover at least K4 trillion looted in Malawi by individuals trading in 25 different companies since 2007, said Kondwani Bell Munthali, Acting Director, in a statement released on Friday.

He said: “We have further asked the governments to impose travel sanctions on individuals and all persons through their relevant domestic legal instruments as identified and quoted. The list of politicians and public officials suspected to have colluded with these individuals has equally been submitted for consideration of sanctions against them and their families benefiting from this wanton looting of public finances.”

According to Munthali, the requests have been submitted to the UK Prime Minister, the National Crime Agency, the Home Office, the All-Africa Parliamentary Group, the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in the United States of America, the US Secretary of State, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations in South Africa.

“The CPA-Open Malawi decision is based on the UK’s Bribery Act 2010 and the case of Nigerian former governor Mr James Ibori who was arrested and prosecuted in the UK, and this resulted in the return of US $ 5.8 million. The request to the United States is based on Executive Order 13818 which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act 1977 and Section 7031 ( c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programmes Appropriations Act, 2021,” reads the CPA-Open Malawi statement, in part.

Munthali stated that the targeted individuals and companies have already been barred from operating in Malawi, as announced by Attorney General Hon Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda in his statement, which includes Karim Abdul Batatawala, Aslam Batatawala, Shiraz Ferreira, C.A. Mahmood, and Zuneth Sattar.

He said: “The CPA-Open Malawi has decided to seek the foreign government’s assistance noting the silence and deliberate attempts by Malawi government officials to sabotage all investigations at the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the deliberate weakening of the Director of the ACB. This includes direct interference by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.”

Munthali also stated that the CPA-Open Malawi is collaborating with various Malawians and friends of Malawi from around the world to organize protests and write to institutions inviting Malawi government officials to cancel such invitations because they are enablers of corruption.

According to Munthali, their targeted campaign will end only when the government of President Lazarus Chakwera and Vice President Saulosi Chilima demonstrates seriousness in combating corruption, specifically by allowing the ACB to bring Mr Zuneth Sattar and his accomplices to justice without delay.

“We will inform the Malawian public of any progress made on our requests submitted on April 21, 2022, once we have received responses,” said Munthali.