MZUZU(MaraPost)–Barely a day after Malawi’s business tycoon Osward Lutepo handed himself to police in connection to the looting and plundering of public resources, fugitive Pika Manondo who is believed to be chief suspect in the shooting of Malawi Budget Director Paul Mphwiyo has emulated the same.

Manondo handed himself to the police on Thursday at Songwe border.

“I am about to hand myself to the police here. I don’t give a damn about anything,” Manondo told ZBS before he handed himself to the police.

On Tuesday, the police confiscated his US$184,000 in a safe deposit box at First Merchant Bank in Lilongwe.

In a related development, former Justice Minister Ralph Kasambara has been arrested in Mzuzu.

Impeccable sources indicate that Kasambara has been arrested Friday morning and was immediately transferred to Lilongwe.

The arrest comes just few days after the police searched at Kasambara’s residence in Lilongwe in relation to the shooting of budget director Paul Mphwiyo.

Meanwhile, the Common approach to budget support (Cabs) donors have announced the withholding of their financial support following the ‘Cash-gate scandal’.

MZUZU(MaraPost)–Malawi’s business tycoon Osward Lutepo who is suspected to have a hand in the looting and plundering of public resources at Capital Hill has handed himself to police soon after his arrival.

Lutepo who is reportedly to have been in the far east for business purposes was named in the cash-gate scandal after the Anti-corruption Bureau (ACB) discovered that his company International Procurement Services  received government money without providing any service.

Police deputy national spokesman Kelvin Maigwa confirned  Lutepo has handed himself in and is currently under arrest.

Maigwa said the Police will interrogate Lutepo.

Two officers at the Office of the President and Cabinet were also arrested for allegedly issuing a payment of over a billion to Lutepo’s company, which did not have any contract with the government, according to ACB.

In a related development Malawi Police have confiscated US$ 184 000 (about K73.6 million) cash which was being kept by Pika Manondo, the prime suspect in the shooting of Paul Mphwiyo, the Budget Director.

According to Maigwa, Manondo was keeping the money in a self-deposit box at the First Merchant Bank (FMB), Lilongwe Branch.

Manondo, who has been placed on international police organisation Interpol’s wanted list, has recently told local media that he intends to return to Malawi this week.

The current sitting of parliament is the best testimony that Malawians have a leadership they do not need. Amid the worst financial scandal ever Malawi, billions of public money has been stolen with impunity by both junior and senior civil servants. Yet, the best that parliamentarians can offer is business as usual partisan politics, they are busy arguing among across the floor. Who has looted more and who is a smarter thief, they are busy sparring to see who can emerge dignified in the face of public anger that could have a bearing on the 2014 tripartite elections outcome.

Education bill has been passed, the most anticipated declaration of assets bill has so far been sent back to public affairs committee, after some opposition identified some flaws in the bill. Making laws is of course one of the paramount duties of MPs but we know this bill is but only one of the major problems facing c insofar as transparency is concerned.

Access to information bill, for instance has been gathering dust for over a decade now and it is not looking like it will be passed anytime soon. Even during this time when all caring , apart from few public thieves, are demanding transparency and accountability.

I have been arguing before that the public thievery at Capital Hill is a symptom of a rotten nation, which has been natured in the last 20 years or so. Dilapidated national morals; we have lost Umunthu and unquenchable greed for things most of us cannot afford is killing Malawi. In Malawi, politics is the way out for people looking to feed their greed and not to serve the people they claim to represent. Even in the so-called developed democracies politics is not much cleaner either but folks who want to get rich in those countries tend to join financial institution. Hedge funds, for instance.

Social changes happen gradually and it is often difficult to pinpoint the period when social changes take place.

Nevertheless, Malawi is not the country it once was. It is naïve to pretend that we can turn back the clock now but it is important to look into rear-view mirror we are to appreciate societal changes. The Capital Hill looting has clearly shown us that there is a serious national problem: greed. What is the source of this greed and what drives it? The crux of the matter lies with our political system.

Those that have been paying attention will have noticed that the Capital Hill looting is now a political argument – not a national issue about public theft by civil servants, many of whom are believed to have strong ties with powerful politicians. This is mainly because politicians, especially in the ruling party, tend to influence public appointments. This is one of the key reason Malawians have lost any sense of patriotism. Folks owe their allegiance to their political parties and their political masters, not their country and fellow Malawians. You wonder whom were these folks owed their allegiance all these years because some of these political parties are less than three years old.

Ever wondered why most people tend to join the ruling party whenever there is a new administration? The lure is that those in the ruling party are sitting on stash of cash. Party royalists are rewarded with ministerial position(s), in parastatal boards etc. important government positions are filled party royalists regardless of their competences. The bloated cabinet that democratic Malawi has always have and limited number of technocrats in those cabinets is an example. Leaner cabinet means only a limited number of party royalists will get in; likewise, hiring a cabinet full of deserved technocrats risk alienating party royalists.

In Malawi, it is always the party in power that has money to burn. How many, if any, cars did People’s Party had on April 7 2012 when Joyce Banda took an oath to serve Malawi and its people? If Malawians are asking how senior politicians and civil servants acquired their wealth in the light of Capital Hill looting, why are we not also asking the same question of our political parties? Why are parliamentarians avoiding this debate? Is it because they are all queuing up to embezzle taxpayer’s money?

Political parties must declare their assets and their source of funding. This information must be open to the public. Any party that refuses to do so should not be on the ballot, as simple as that. It is not a coincidence that only a party in power has money to burn, it can afford campaign materials, it can afford to ferry people to and from political rallies etc. Yet, once out of power they have nothing. This discussion should be at the centre-stage of the current discussion on how to manage the public purse.

As a nation, we call ourselves a God fearing people. God fearing people admit when they are wrong in the spirit of humility. The trait of not admitting when we make mistakes is sadly missing from our leaders. They are quick to confess the mistakes and sins of other people. They will do anything to exonerate themselves even when caught in the act of wrong doing. Tonight, I will dwell on two issues: the “cash-gate” case and the number of political parties in Malawi.

The Mphwiyo saga, though unfortunate, is the harbinger that has opened the pandora’s box. Without it, the massive looting at Capital Hill would not have been known. Let us ask ourselves, did this start with the Joyce Banda administration?

Our first President, Dr. Hastings Banda left us a professional civil service. It was the best in Africa. In 1994, 19 Principal Secretaries, whose only crime was having served with excellence the Hastings Banda government were summarily relieved of their posts through transfers `and retirements. Politicians started contaminating the civil service. They started ordering the controlling officers to authorize dubious expenditures and payments. Malawi is a nation with limited opportunities. These controlling officers had two choices: join the ranks of the unemployed or allow to be corrupted by the new political masters whose chief idea of leading the nation was to give out “gifts” to their favored ones. Anyone who steals for you will eventually steal from you.

 We all know that if we were to add up the amount of “gifts” our leaders have given to their favored ones from 1994 to today, the many vehicles political parties buy when they get into government, their party materials, their personal wealth which they amass within a few months of getting into office: our hospitals would have had 5-10 ambulances each, enough beddings, equipment, our nurses, doctors and their support staff would love their jobs because they would be properly compensated.

The second issue I will deal with is the number of political parties. Some people have advised me to join the so called big political parties.

For starters, Malawi does not yet have national political parties. They are all either regionally or family led. Even in matters of succession, it is the son, the brother, the uncle or the grandfather who takes over. These so called big parties are determined to choose goal scorers (strikers) who are either members of their families or members of their tribe.

A good analogy would be a football club. The founder of the club insisting that the top striker must be his son or his nephew, brother or member of his tribe regardless of talent, will this club ever win a trophy? For Malawi government, the presidents when arranging succession reduce the office of president into a joke: after all they reason, the president’s job in Malawi is to conduct mass rallies, lay foundation stones, travel around the world to collect allowances and to give out “gifts”.

That is why Malawi as a nation is going nowhere. We have wrong people in parliament, in the cabinet and in our state houses. Our most able citizens are not allowed to play any role in managing the affairs of this nation.

Finally, ladies and gentlemen, a nation is like a boat on Lake Malawi going to other side. Malawi leaders know one thing: raise their side of the boat forgetting that they are in the middle of the lake. When the boat capsizes, they too will drown. Our present horrible situation begins and ends with our politicians. 2014 is around the corner, any politician who has played any role since 1994, must go.

04 11 2013 – PRESS RELEASE in Response to posted article on Maravipost by Osisa

Argor-Heraeus firmly refuses any accusation 

To its great surprise, Argor-Heraeus SA has been informed that NGO TRIAL of Geneva is pressing charges for alleged money laundering in connection with the refining of gold allegedly originating from the DRC during the period of 2004 to 2005. Argor-Heraeus firmly refuses any such accusation since an in-depth investigation by the UNO, the SECO and FINMA resulted that Argor-Heraeus has been cleared of all above mentioned allegations.

To date, 4th of November 2013, Argor-Heraeus, a company with more than 60 years active in the sector of precious metals, was informed about the accusation of the NGO Trial at the ministry of public affairs of the Swiss Federation.

The alleged facts date back to 2004 – 2005 when the name of Argor-Heraeus appeared in a report of the Group of Experts of the DRC of the UN which analysed some shipments of the British company HUSSAR Ltd. which were processed at Argor-Heraeus.

The subsequent detailed in-depth verifications executed by SECO and UNO resulted in the removal of the name of Argor-Heraeus from the report and confirmed that the company was in no way directly or indirectly involved in the alleged claim.

In addition, already in 2005, as a further precautionary measure, Argor-Heraeus decided not to accept any material for processing in its plant from Uganda and instable regions and to cease any commercial activity with HUSSAR Ltd.

8 years after the conclusion of the case the allegation arrives like a bolt from the blue for Argor-Heraeus, in particular since there was no request or contact whatsoever from TRIAL beforehand.

Even less understandable is the allegation of the Geneva NGO against a company which engages seriously in the Due Diligence for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals and practices full transparency in its customer relations. The members of the management board of Argor-Heraeus actively participate in working groups and committees of the principal organizations of the sector such as LBMA, OECD, RJC and WGC, collaborating at the definition of the standards of transparency and sustainability of the commerce and processing of precious metals. In addition Argor-Heraeus is founding member of the Swiss Better Gold Initiative which targets to create a system for transparent and sustainable gold commerce from ASMs.

Argor-Heraeus collaborates in complete transparency with the authorities to bring to light the facts with the certainty that the investigation will result – as already clearly demonstrated in the past – that Argor-Heraeus is not at all involved in the alleged subject.

TRIAL files a criminal denunciation to the Swiss Federal Prosecutor against a Swiss refinery companysuspected of laundering looted gold from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Geneva, 4 November 2013 – TRIAL (Track Impunity Always) has submitted to the Swiss Federal Prosecutor a criminal denunciation against the precious metals refinery Argor-Heraeus SA. The Swiss anti-impunity NGO holds information suggesting that the company may have laundered pillaged gold. The investigation and the evidence gathered indicate that between 2004 and 2005, Argor-Heraeus SA may have refined almost 3 tons of gold that had been pillaged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by an unlawful armed group that financed its operations by trafficking in gold. According to TRIAL, the refinery knew or should have assumed that the gold resulted from pillage, a war crime. TRIAL therefore requests law enforcement authorities to open an investigation and to establish whether an offense has been committed, and if so, to sanction the company.

On 1 November 2013, TRIAL filed a complaint (dénonciation pénale) to the Swiss Federal Prosecutor supported by extensive evidence against the Swiss precious metals refinery Argor-Heraeus SA. The Swiss anti-impunity NGO suspects that the refinery may have committed « aggravated laundering » (under article 305bis of the Swiss Penal Code) when it allegedly refined pillaged gold from the DRC, the sale of which contributed to financing the operations of an unlawful armed group in a brutal conflict.

The complaint follows investigations into the DRC-sourced gold supply chain that were conducted in the years 2004-2005 by the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, pursuant to its mandate to monitor the arms embargo on the country. All of the African businesses and businessmen implicated in this affair were severely sanctioned by the UN Security Council, while Western businesses and businessmen were not, notwithstanding recommendations from the Group of Experts that all participants in the illegal supply chain be sanctioned.

In light of the evidence obtained up to 2012 by Kathi Lynn Austin – former investigator in the UN Group of Experts – TRIAL believes that Argor-Heraeus SA could not have been unaware of the criminal origin of the gold. Accordingly, in refining almost 3 tons of gold pillaged from the DRC in less than a year, Argor Heraeus SA may have committed aggravated money laundering. « Even if Argor-Heraeus SA was able at the time to escape UN sanctions under the embargo, that does not mean that it did not violate Swiss law, » said Bénédict De Moerloose, the TRIAL lawyer in charge of the case.

Bénédict De Moerloose added : « For a long time we have been investigating the activities of Argor-Heraeus SA during the years 2004-2005, with regard to Swiss law, in particular, money laundering. Today, thanks to newly obtained evidence, our suspicions are sufficiently well grounded for us to refer the matter to the international criminal law department of the Federal Prosecutor’s office. It is now for them to determine if Argor-Heraeus SA should be criminally prosecuted for the alleged conduct. »

For Philip Grant, Director of TRIAL : « It is unacceptable that pillaged raw materials that are feeding violence in a brutal and horrific war should be refined and prepared for marketing in Switzerland, with total impunity. These practices run contrary to law, but without a clear signal from law enforcement authorities, they will continue. This complaint should serve as a reminder that corporations are subject to the law and must also be held accountable. »

The Stop-Pillage Campaign

Launched jointly by three NGOs dedicated to the struggle against impunity – TRIAL, Conflict Awareness Project (the NGO started by Kathi Lynn Austin), and the Open Society Justice Initiative – a broader campaign started in parallel of the filing of the complaint. The Stop-Pillage Campaign seeks to raise public awareness in Switzerland and abroad regarding the impact of the pillaging of raw materials, its link to armed conflict, and the responsibility of all actors in the supply chain. The NGOs call for a judicial response to this problem targeting every link in the chain, no matter in which country. See www.stop-pillage.org. 

Case Summary

The Front des Nationalistes et Intégrationnistes (FNI) is an unlawful armed group that began operating in 2002 in northeastern DRC, seizing control of the city of Mongbwalu (Ituri) and of a gold concession named « Concession 40 ». In violation of the embargo imposed by the UN Security Council in 2003, the FNI exploited this concession to finance its operations and buy arms. The FNI is widely accused of massacres, systematic violence against the civilian population of Ituri, sexual violence, pillage, and recruiting child soldiers. 

With the collaboration and air transport provided by a local businessman, Dr. Kisoni Kambale, a large portion of the gold was sold in Uganda to a company called Ugandan Commercial Impex Ltd. (UCI). This company resold the gold, in turn, to a buyer named Hussar Limited, a Jersey, Channel Islands company, and its London affiliate, Hussar Services Limited, which asked the Swiss company Argor-Heraeus SA to refine the gold, in the period between July 2004 and June 2005. The refined gold ingots were then sold to banking institutions. 

Context

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a territory rich in widely coveted natural resources (gold, coltan, tungsten, diamonds, precious woods). The struggle for control of this natural wealth, together with regional tensions and ethnic conflicts, have led to devastating conflict in the Congo (with millions dead and hundreds of thousands displaced). Since 1994, the population of the Northeast of the country (North and South Kivu and Ituri) has suffered massive and continuing waves of crimes and grave human rights violations committed both by unlawful armed groups and by the Congolese national security forces. These regions have also been the locus of systematic pillage of natural resources by the armed groups in the region.

Contact :

TRIAL (Track impunity always)
Chloé Bitton – Head of Communications
T : +41 22 321 61 10 I M : +41 79 192 37 44
E : media@trial-ch.org www.trial-ch.org

Campaign Partners :

Open Society Justice Initiative
Jonathan Birchall – Senior Communications Officer
T : +1 212 547 69 58 I M : +1 917 225 33 46
E :  jonathan.birchall@opensocietyfoundations.org
www.opensocietafoundations.org

Conflict Awareness Project
Greg Hittelman – Deputy Director
T +1 310 717 06 06 I E :  ghittelman@conflictawareness.org
www.ConflictAwareness

Zavuta basi (No-where to run) Time to drink poison is now! apa ndiye mwagwidwa basi (you are finally cornered).

Exclusive information indicates that the police detectives are near reaching the bottom of the shooting of budget Director Paul Mphwiyo.

A new suspect Lloyd Liyaya has been captured by the Malawi Police last Friday. He wasnnewly hired to sneak into Airtel a Malawi leading mobile network to delete conversation of one of the main suspects Pika Manondo currently on the run.

This revelation indicates a great under ground job police detectives are carrying out to corner all the zombies involved in the attempted assassination. A man commenting on one of the online media news outlet said the man was hired to delete Manondo’s conversation at Airtel.

Was Manondo using Airtel network? If yes what were his frequentest calling or receiving numbers? If those people are called for interrogations won’t one of them will disclose Manondo’s whereabouts? Does this indicate attempt to fluff evidence? Who is doing this?

It has only been broadcasting for three weeks, but the new online radio station opened in UK seems to have been welcomed by many Malawians in diaspora, especially those in UK.  The station named Radio 247 MALAWI joins the long list of Malawian radios now streaming online.

Radio 247 Malawi is the brainchild of Glasgow based Malawian entrepreneur James Mbali.   In their official statement, signed by Dj Noriega Bee, the radio has been positioned for the niche market of Malawians in diaspora. “Our slogan is bringing Malawians together, and this represents what we want to do, bringing the community of Malawians in diaspora together through this medium. Their target audience is Malawians who have been away from home for some time and especially living in in UK, USA, RSA and Republic of Ireland.”

“We have received a lot of support, the Malawi Embassy in UK has welcomed our station” said  James Mbali . In another statement, Malawi association UK (Mauk) president Clement Chunga also welcomed the opening of the station highlighting that it is always good for Malawians to be doing something that will benefit their community.

The radio will focus on updates on what Diasporas are doing; broadcasting live events they are doing as well as playing a lot of music by Malawi artists. The radio is also geared on working with Malawian music artists on finding ways on how they can come and perform in UK, RSA and Ireland.

So far the Radio 247 Malawi can be listened to on www.247malawi.com and those with smartphones can download the Tunein app where upon searching for the radio, they will be able to listen to it. The station will also be looking at ways on whether we can get a frequency so that what we broadcast can be listened to easily in Malawi. They are also geared at opening a Music TV station in Malawi soon.

Radio 247 Malawi also wants to be at the fore front of social responsibility by mobilising Diasporas to donate and help charities that help Malawi. Other Djs at the station are, Amos “Amophi” Phiri, Tia the Don and Teonas.

When a government watches 50 of its citizens depart this life in just a week due to lack of basic medical care at a referral hospital such as Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH), the simplest conclusion would be that such an administration has failed.

Every time I imagine the sense of desperation that has engulfed patients and guardians at KCH which has been hit by the scarcity of even the very basic medical equipment, I am struck by the realisation that the country has followers in wrong places.

In leadership positions of some key ministries and departments are people who don’t seem to have the slightest idea of management and are blindly showing the way, instead of trailing behind others.

Just how did government, the Ministry of Health in particular, let a referral hospital—which is supposed to cater for millions of people—deplete all its resources to a level where it cannot afford to buy materials to cover small wounds? And all we hear from the Minister of Health is an excuse that a truck carrying the medical supplies is stuck at some port in Mozambique.

So, until such a time when the truck makes it back on the road, KCH should get used to the idea of wheeling an average of 14 bodies to the mortuary in a day?

If this country can afford to handle single patient emergencies and airlift prominent people to foreign hospitals, why can’t it act with similar swiftness on this matter and do everything possible to ensure that drugs and other necessities are available at the hospital?

Does it make sense to have operations paralysed as at a referral hospital such as KCH just because a truck is stuck somewhere? Can’t the whole government machinery find a way of getting emergency supplies to end the heartbreaking crisis in hospitals? Why can’t government airlift the drug consignment from Mozambique, to save the lives that are dying needlessly?

Meanwhile, there is no word from the presidency, yet what we see are Facebook updates of how the President has welcomed some foreign delegation who are here to discuss peripheral matters compared to the predicament at KCH.

Our leaders, it seems, do not know what they are doing, but more importantly, they don’t really care for the welfare of the masses so long as they are in power. That’s why they live in a different world where they can’t relate with the suffering that people are going through at KCH.

They care less because they know once they fall sick; they will access better treatment in private hospitals or be flown to expensive hospitals abroad where their bills are settled by the taxpayers, whose family members are filling up mortuaries in public hospitals.

And, hey, opposition DPP Lilongwe City Centre legislator Shadreck Jonas, perhaps high on something not exactly legal, may say some real crazy stuff like suggesting turning some secondary schools into prisons for ‘cashgate’ villains.

But, hey, what he said about withdrawing the international medical referral privilege from ‘top dogs’ deserves more than fleeting attention.

Jonas said something like: “As long as we keep sending our ‘top dogs’ abroad for medical treatment, they will never bother or care about hospital conditions at home. Let’s stop this sending of people abroad for medical treatment.”

As an MP, Jonas is a potential beneficiary of such a privilege if he is afflicted by some life-threatening ailment, so no one should really accuse him of making his statement out of sheer jealousy or envy.

Look, a lot of Malawians are dying in droves everyday because our health centres and district hospitals do not have simple drugs like aspirin or paracetamol.

Just imagine, if a referral hospital like the KamuzuCentralHospital cannot have simple stuff like swabs to handle surgeries, how do you expect a rural hospital like Bwanje Health Centre in Ntcheu to have anti-biotics?

Is it fair for a poor farmer from PendanyamaVillage to die because Bwanje Health Centre does not have insulin to control his diabetes and yet it is his very vote that enables some politician to be treated for a simple headache episode at Milpark or Garden City in Johannesburg?

Do we not say we are equal before the law?

Imagine if Budget Director Paul Mphwiyo were some labourer from Mgona. Would he have survived taking in three bullets at KCH where, according to Head Surgeon Carlos Valera, “we do not even have materials to close the wound”? 

I am sure if Bingu had survived his cardiovascular incident during those three mad days in April he could have shifted his focus from funding the needlessly expensive – but politically correct – farm-input subsidy programme, to stocking our hospitals with bare necessities.

If ministers were taken to KCH or Queen Elizabeth or Mzuzu central hospitals, and not Milpark or Garden City, when they got sick, I am sure some nutty deputy minister could not have cartooned himself to suggest that the well-meaning medics from KCH marched on Parliament just because they belonged to some blue party.