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Lilongwe. – Malawi has recalled two officials from the country’s embassy in Ethiopia over allegations that they defrauded government of over $30 000, reports Nyasa Times.
According to Malawi’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Corporation, George Chapanda, the two suspended officials were the deputy ambassador, Doren Kapanga, and the first secretary of administration, Fletcher Chowe.
The recent anti-graft move by the minister came after at least 17 officials were arrested and charged in the country’s “cashgate” scandal in November last year.
The multi-million-dollar scandal prompted foreign donors – who provided around 40 percent of Malawi’s budget – to pull the plug on aid worth around $150 million.
Reports indicated that a former anti-graft crusader, Paul Mphwiyo, was charged along with 17 other officials with a raft of graft offences, and for theft of $4 million in the cashgate affair, which originated in 2005.
Chapanda said that the suspension of the two officials was the government’s way of showing its seriousness in combating corruption in the land-locked country.
He said that the two officials were already on their way back to Malawi after they were recalled.
Malawi was reportedly auditing about five embassies in South Africa, the United States of America, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Kenya. – News24
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