Former President Peter Mutharika has declined to grant the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) a caution interview on alleged abuse of his Taxpayer’s Idenfication Number (TPIN) by some of his aides when he was still in power.
According to a statement released on Tuesday, the former president is of the view that the ACB is not doing the interview in good but pure political persecution, describing it as “a sustained political witch hunt by a State institution.”
“In August 2020, the Fiscal Police questioned me under caution regarding the use of my Personal Tax Identification Number (TPIN) during the time I was the President of Malawi. The matter related to the unauthorized use of my TPIN in the importation of cement by other people. I issued a statement that clarified my position in that matter denying any involvement in the importation of that cement.
“Surprisingly, the ACB who never questioned me in any way froze my accounts citing the alleged use or misuse of my TPIN in that transaction. You continued to keep the accounts frozen for over 270 days until you could no longer renew the Restriction Notice that froze the accounts. During that long period, I was not allowed to access the accounts even for my reasonable living expenses or to pay my bills,” explained Mutharika in the statement.
Mutharika further says was neither charged nor informed by the ACB why the graft busting body subjected him to the above mentioned kind of treatment.
“I now know that after the expiry of the freezing order, the ACB went to Court to seek a preservation order under the Financial Crimes Act, an act that was intended to maintain the freezing orders. Thanks to the court for rejecting the underhand tactics which your institution was employing.
“Now I am being called upon to answer questions by the ACB in what you have described as an interview for offences I am not aware of. I consider this to be part of the continued persecution and harassment by the ACB and it is intended to humiliate and taunt me psychologically. Otherwise I demand to know the offence I have committed,” says Mutharika.
“It is extremely strange that an institution like the ACB with accusatorial and investigative powers would seek to interview me without disclosing the nature of the offences I am accused of. In view of the previous conduct of the ACB towards me, I am reluctant to grant this interview.
“In my view, all this is a sustained political witch hunt by a State institution. If I, as a Former Head of State, must be called to answer these questions, then fairness demands that every previous President and Vice President now living be called upon to explain how their TPIN has been used,” he argues.
In view of the foregoing and out of courtesy to the ACB, Mutharika has indicated that will listen to the questions if ACB decides to proceed, but will exercise his right to remain silent unless he is told an offence committed.
Last year, ACB arrested Mutharika’s former bodyguard Norman Chisale, former Chief of Staff for State Residences, Peter Mukhito, former Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) top official Rosa Mbilizi and businessman Shafee Chunala over their involvement in the Cement saga.
