Joyce Banda is the President of the Southern African nation of Malawi. She took office after the death of Bingu wa Muthirika on Friday, April 6, 2012., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Banda dissolves Cabinet
October 12, 2013
BLANTYRE. — Malawi President Joyce Banda dissolved Cabinet on Thursday after police arrested several junior officials in her government in recent weeks on suspicion of stealing state funds.
Police said about 10 junior government officials had been arrested so far for suspected graft, and that they had recovered tens of thousands of dollars in cash from their car boots and homes.
President Banda dissolved her cabinet following calls from donors, civil society organisations and the media to act on those involved in financial mess at Capital Hill.
The dissolution came barely a few hours after she met cabinet at Chikoko Bay in Mangochi.
In a brief statement made available to Nyasa Times from State House, Presidential Secretary Steve Nhlane said: “Her Excellency Dr Joyce Banda, President of the Republic of Malawi, in exercise of the powers conferred upon her by Section 94 (1) and Section 95 (2) of the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi, has today, 10th October 2013, dissolved Cabinet.
According to the statement from State House, there was no vacuum in the government as “all ministerial matters will revert to the Presidency through Controlling Officers. Her Excellency the President will announce a new Cabinet in due course.” The statement said the President will announce a new Cabinet in due course.
During a news conference she held on Wednesday, President Banda said she had appointed a special team, made up of police and government officials, to audit all government departments. Banda, who faces an election next year, has won acclaim in the West for austerity measures and moves to bolster the economy of the aid-dependent, impoverished country.
A small group of protesters marched in the capital Lilongwe on Thursday and delivered a petition calling for the sacking of top officials, including Finance Minister Ken Lipenga, over the scandal. Lipenga has denied any wrongdoing. He was not immediately available for comment on Thursday. But steps such as an IMF-backed devaluation of the kwacha currency have stoked inflation, raised the price of food for the rural poor and eroded Banda’s domestic support. Last week, envoys from eight Western donor nations, whose aid traditionally has accounted for about 40 percent of the state budget, asked Banda to deal with the alleged corruption at the treasury and investigate an attack on the budget director.
“These are worrying developments that potentially risk Malawi’s stability, rule of law and reputation,” the envoys said in a statement.
Budget director Paul Mphwiyo was shot last month, but survived the attack.
After the shooting, the government’s Anti-corruption Bureau and police launched an investigation into the budget director and unnamed ministers over suspected graft, indicating the scandal extended beyond just a few junior officials. Malawi’s troubled economy has shown signs of improvement in the past few months with inflation that was once running over 30 percent easing slightly
— Nyasa Times/Reuters.
No comments:
Post a Comment