BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)— The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has cleared Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president Lazarus Chakwera over abuse of office allegations.
The graft-busting body says it received a complaint from unnamed lawmaker that Chakwera was receiving his salary as Lilongwe North West Member of Parliament (MP) while boycotting official parliamentary business.
But according to ACB director general, the bureau has found no merit in the arguments presented by the complainant, who is apparently from the ruling DPP.
“On the issue of Honourable Chakwera, we [the Bureau] received a complaint that he was getting a salary while he was not attending meetings of Parliament and our position is that this was not tantamount to abuse of office as he was still doing other functions of the office for which he was entitled to a pay,” said Reyneck Matemba, ACB director general.
The bureau has also cleared Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal judge Lovemore Chikopa over his alleged involvement in an attempt to bribe five High Court judges who heard the historic presidential election nullification petition.
Since 2019, the ruling DPP and its President Peter Mutharika have been victims of the court rulings.
On Friday, Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda described the grounds of appeal by the President Mutharika in the presidential election appeal case as “embarrassing and convoluted.”