…President allegedly received a “tithe” for the deal
…Sattar still controls Chakwera, Police and MDF
President Lazarus Chakwera is a corrupt man, very corrupt, that he would make Jesus weep every day- our sources from State House, Office of the President and Cabinet and Malawi Defence Force have painted a picture of how Zuneth Sattar still controls the President.
All public contracts in Malawi are approved by the Attorney General, and for the Defence Contracts, the President is involved. The Investigator Magazine has concluded that both the President and the Attorney General knowingly conspired and participated in the procurement of the 32 APC’s contracts with full knowledge that it was being coordinated and would eventually benefit Zuneth Sattar.
That is why we feel justified to call out that the President is corrupt. If he is not, let him for once absolve himself by firing everyone and all who signed approved and recklessly gave Sattar a free ride worth US$4.9 million when Malawians can’t find painkillers in public hospitals. He can’t fire anyone because he is the champion of corruption.
A “tithe” is said to have been partly paid by Sattar to the President and his cronies that he engineered the non-renewal of General Vincent Nundwe’s contract to place “homeboy” General Valentino Phiri to facilitate payments to Sattar’s companies by trying to fool Malawians.
The Investigator Magazine can boldly declare that Malawians elected a lying President and that alongside Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda, General Phiri and the Treasury all worked to cover up the exposed Sattar’s dealings.
The trio- Chakwera, Chakaka Nyirenda and Phiri understood that publicly Chakaka Nyirenda had cancelled the 32 military vehicles APCs that Sattars Malachite had been awarded in 2021, but they had already “eaten part of the payment”, and Sattar needed the money. They came up with another contract.
Sattar had spent most of 2023 recuperating from surgery after he fell, and he has been reported to have recovered around October 2023, within a month, a payment of US$4 983 400 million was paid to the supplier of the same contract Sattar’s Malachitte FZE had allegedly been cancelled.
The President is Sattar’s puppet.
The Investigator Magazine has been told of visits by Sattar’s family member to the State House and third-party communication between the Malawi Leader and the arms dealer who is answering charges of fraud and money laundering in the United Kingdom that it is unfathomable that a right-thinking President would approve such a deal, let alone try to facilitate a cover-up.
In this case, Chakwera did Sattar’s bidding by removing Nundwe, an obstacle to his corrupt deals and went ahead to authorise the purchase of the same trucks- facilitated by Sattar both as Commander In Chief of the Malawi Defence Force (MDF), Chairman of the Defence Council and by approving General Phiri and seven others to go on a Sattar paid trip to Dubai.
“The three key areas show the President is complicit and that Zuneth Sattar has a puppet in the name of Chakwera. At the time when foreign exchange was not available to buy fertiliser and medications, it had to take the President to have a US$4.9 million payment approved. The Minister of Finance, the Governor of the Reserve Bank and the Accountant General cannot move such a huge amount without his approval,” a Malawi Public Finance expert analysed the situation for The Investigator Magazine.
“Further, all external trips for the SPC, Ministers, Police Inspector General, and MDF commander are approved by the President with a full memo of details provided. In this case, the President cannot use his usual ” I don’t know ” song. This proves he has always been doing Sattar’s bidding,” our expert on security establishments operations added.
President Chakwera’s dishonesty and complicity in corruption deals have been evident with his failure to act despite embarrassing evidence and public pronouncements from his Ministers in fertiliser deals with East Bridge, where it is alleged he would have benefitted US$6 million paid through 5,000 tonnes of fertiliser to suppliers and fuel and road construction deals.
“Sattar has something big with the President, you cannot separate him from this administration that the President has now gone to the extent of trying to fool Malawians, but it is not working. That payment of US$4.9 million is illegal as there is no new contract with International Armed Group as they only reworked Sattar’s contract and did not seek new authorisations,” said our source.
Sattar’s involvement in the new contract
The MDF had a contract with Sattar’s Malachitte FZE to supply the 32 APC vehicles, and after his arrest by the National Crime Agency of the United Kingdom in October 2021, the Anti-Corruption Bureau on 21 October 2021 issued restriction notices to Malawi Defence Force and Malawi Police Services from conducting business with Sattar’s companies. A press release was issued on 1st November 2021 to the public.
The Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda, after a botched attempt to offer amnesty to Sattar and other crooked barons, announced that he had cancelled all contracts awarded to Sattar companies with the Government and barred from any future public procurement- he used section 46 (C) of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Act. He wrote on 11 January 2022 to Malachitte FZE, cancelling the supply of water cannons and 32 APCs.
Chakaka Nyirenda has not publicly told Malawians that both the “contracts and future participation” of Malachitte FZE in Malawi Defence Force or Malawi Police Services have resumed and under what new conditions.
Ashok Nair, who has been identified by the ACB as Sattar’s accountant, was charged under the Corrupt Practices Act (CPA) and has been playing legal delay tactics that his cases are parked in the Supreme Court of Appeal, which is renowned for its indefinite sitting on high profile cases.
According to court documents in the UK when in June 2022 Sattar had applied for bail variation, he wanted to travel to Dubai to sort payments with the International Armoured Group- which was to supply 32 APC’s to Malachitte FZE to honour its contract with the MDF. The Court in the UK rejected his bid.
As President Chakwera and Chakaka Nyirenda were busy battling the Anti-Corruption Bureau, a new contract directly with the supplier dated 25 May 2023 was issued to the International Armoured Group worth US$19 933 600.00 but all details and running were left to Sattar’s Malachitte FZE as the President and his team though it will be easy to fool Malawians.
However, shock was waiting for them. The documents were leaked immediately, exposing the rotten Chakwera presidency and his henchmen who will do anything to fleece the already thin public finances they have mismanaged.
The advance payment was illegal as the materials had not been inspected. To cover up, a trip had to be arranged two months after monies were already paid, and the trip had an unusual chaperone for the team.
The MDF team was sponsored by Sattar to Dubai.
Shazad Sattar, brother to Zuneth Sattar, who has been running his affairs since the case started, was seen in the Ethiopian Airlines lounge in Dubai with General Phiri around the 20th of January; this is the first confirmed link that Sattar was in charge and sponsor of the trip.
Another leaked document shows the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) was communicating with Malachitte FZE to the attention of Ashok Nair, both of whom have faced the ACB wrath, proving that the deal was still being managed and done by Sattar.
The document shows actual test drives and use of machinery despite the fact that the government had already paid US$4.9 million, raising questions as to why the MDF would be testing the equipment it had already paid for. Public procurement items are normally paid after delivery.
The only people who believed could fool Malawians were the President, the AG and MDF top brass, who were being chaperoned and moved around Dubai by Sattar’s family members and associates.
The fact that the procurement of the 32 APCs from AIG by Sattar is under legal dispute, the defiance shown by the MDF and approval by the President shows how deeply involved Sattar is still in the affairs of the Republic despite a charade of ongoing cases, whose conclusion now is obvious that the President never meant a word that he was fighting corruption.
The use of Malachittee FZE by the MDF and its Commander makes a mockery of the case against Vice President Saulos Chilima and explains why the Anti-Corruption Bureau cannot get evidence from the MDF as its top brass are all part of the deal.
Drop Chilima charges, Mr President; you are too implicated
As Chair of the Defence Council, Commander in Chief of the MDF and Head of the Executive, President Chakwera’s attempts to fool Malawians make a mockery of the values of the Republic and any comical attempts to pretend he is fighting corruption.
The revelations that Sattar is still running State House, MDF and the Attorney General make the prosecution of Vice President Saulos Chilima a political persecution for his interest in assuming Chakwera’s position as a candidate for the Tonse Alliance. Why prosecute Chilima when Chakwera is still approving trips and funds associated with Sattar?
“If there was a doubt that Chakwera was implicated in the Sattar case, here is the evidence. He paid US$4.9 million when Malawians were suffering from lacking medications and fertiliser and kids failing to attend school. With his mouth, he pretends he cares; with his heart, he is chasing for any coin that he can steal from public contracts. Chilima was right, let us remove immunity and see how many hours this President will last as his corrupt deals are well documented,” said our Treasury source who gave The Investigator Magazine a glimpse of how Chakwera’s web of operatives operate.
“The case against Chilima is about his alleged influence on the MDF to give Sattar a contract. Either the ACB arrest Valentino Phiri and his team, the Attorney General and all those involved in breaking the law to suit Sattars wishes, or all cases should go, the man is a “god” of this President. He cannot fire anyone as he has been caught with his hand in a jar of cookies worth US$4.9 million,” said an analyst.
Prosecuting Chilima will prove more embarrassing to the President as he is now at the summit of corruption, and he can no longer pretend he is not aware when he has been approving trips and procurements that go against public procurement rules.
Chakwera- the most corrupt President?
The Investigator Magazine is compiling deals and their worth where President Lazarus Chakwera or his Cabinet have been involved in shoddy contracts and suggested evidence shows that “tithes” have been collected mostly in advance, which is why it is difficult to cancel such malfeasance of contracts.
So far, Chakwera’s bad deals are heading towards US$2 billion including the cancelled East Bridge and other fertiliser bad deals, attempts to award a Nigerian “Chief” fuel and energy contracts and roads and construction contracts we will publish soon.
Malawi seems to have elected not only a perpetual and habitual liar, but a very corrupt President whose damage to public finances will still be felt long after he is gone.
Malawi has fallen on the corrupt index five steps down again- thanks to the corrupt administration.
Editors Comment- Chakwera is not fit to be a President or a Pastor:
The biggest question people ask, without answer, is: Is the President really a man of God? Did he really preach thou shalt not steal or thou shalt not lie as contained in biblical Moses book of Exodus?
His association with thieves, corrupt and greedy Ministers, Officials, and even people like Sattar or Paul Mphwiyo reveals the true character of our President. He lies with ease, backs up thievery of public resources so that nobody is fired or arrested, and now, he is deep into the scheme of covering up contracts to hoodwink Malawians. The fact that nobody will be fired, should tell Malawians the involvement of President Chakwera himself.
The fact that President Lazarus Chakwera is a failed and nepotistic leader is well documented. The fact that he is addicted to flying is well-documented. Now, the fact that he is behind all the corrupt deals of his administration is not very surprising.
A clean leader doesn’t take time to fire corrupt people. President Chakwera sticks with them, even when they break public procurements rules, go to TV and justify lies and more importantly- even when there is overwhelming evidence.
The public including Public Affairs Committee (PAC) owe people like Colleen Zamba, Simplex Chithyola, Lobin Lowe and even Sam Kawale for trying to justify corrupt deals. We owe them sincere apologies- they are pawns in Chakwera’s corrupt scheme.
The man is corrupt, too corrupt, that he forgets what he says today within hours. The Sattars case again reveals how corrupt the President is and why those next to him, implicated in the scams, know nothing will happen to them.
The list of his corrupt presidency is too long, just as 2025 feels too long for many Malawians when President Chakwera and his corrupt cronies will be sent packing and be asked to account for this wanton waste of public resources.
Giving Sattar US$4.9 million amid the financial crisis is very reckless, gluttonous, and simply foolish.
Unfortunately, thieves and corrupt gangs do not understand decent language. We just can’t continue with diplomacy when the Treasury is being ransacked by the President, Zuneth Sattar and their wailers.
It’s sad, the man people believed in 2020 is not fit to be a President. Not even a Church Pastor. Reverend Chakwera is fit to be a mafia boss. Scheming how to make money from the poor seems his biggest occupation- yet.
