Lilongwe, January 11, 2014: Minister of Information and Civic Education, Brown Mpinganjira has said the judiciary has allocated adequate time and space to start dealing with cases connected with recent plunders of Government resources as soon as next week.
Addressing a press conference on Friday in Lilongwe, Mpinganjira said the commencement of trials does not mean the end of investigations into the plunder of public resources but that government’s determination was to ensure that public resources were respected and going towards alleviating peoples poverty and development of the country.
“Government is doing everything possible to ensure that the Judiciary has been adequately been provided with sufficient financial support to ensure that at least seven cases are heard in the courts every week,” he said.
He also said that the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) would continue to restrict related bank accounts and disposal of such properties as houses, vehicles and land under investigations.
Mpinganjira also explained that the preparatory work for Comprehensive Forensic Audit covering the period 2005 to March 2013 was at an advance stage.
“The Comprehensive Audit is expected to start in February 2014 and the report is expected to be out end April 2014,” explained Mpinganjira.
He added that government would soon with support from the German Government be engaging an ICT Security Officer to be based at the Accountant General’s Department.
He also said that President Joyce Band assented to Public Bill (Declaration of Assets, Liabilities and Business interests) was now a law and that the final process for this law to take effect was its gazetting and it has since been gazetted.
He said through transparency and accountability government would continue to share the Action plan and progress reports registered in the five major areas of Action plan to improve Public Financial Management.
Government formulated Action Plan that was aimed at improving Public Financial Management following the 2013 revelation of massive fraud and theft of public resources through the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS).