President Lazarus Chakwera is being blackmailed by powerful personalities that he cannot stop them from looting and laundering of public resources, a civil society group has claimed.
The Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) has said it expect nothing short of the President proving that his hands are clean, and he is fit to continue ruling the country beyond 2022.”Our expectation is not out of spite, but as per his own public admission that abdication is one of his serious weaknesses, hence anyone would have serious problems trusting a leader who has abdicated his constitutional powers to some unknown individual or group of individuals as Malawians have witnessed in the past two or so years,” says Sylvester Namiwa, Director of CFEDI. Namiwa says in his end of year message that the President has not been in control of the affairs of the country.
“To be precise, the writing is on the wall that President Chakwera has been and, of course, continues to be blackmailed by a group of people, some of whom he
allowed to loot and plunder the country’s coffers with impunity,” said Namiwa. He claimed Malawians expect the Presidents new year address to clear the his position over several issues that remain unsolved.
The issues says CDEDI include revelations by the former National Oil Company of Malawi (NOCMA) acting Chief Executive Officer Helen Buluma,
before the Public Appointments Committee (PAC) of Parliament. Buluma accused the Secretary to the President and Cabinet, the Chief
Immigration Officer as well as the Secretary for Energy of trying to illegally impose some fuel suppliers.
Government is yet to respond to the allegations. The CDEDI also wants an inquiry into the K750 million that was paid to a butchery in London as the President has done in the case of the arrest of ACB Director Martha Chizuma.
