While the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) apologists are busy criticizing a legitimate legal bill which Chakwera and Chilima lawyers are demanding from Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) after winning the 2019 presidential election case, DPP die-hard politician-cum-businessman Leston Mulli is claiming billions of Kwachas from an already dead treasury.
Of course you will not hear Atupele Muluzi, the DPP/UDF running mate, talking about this because his campaign is benefiting from the easy money.
A few weeks ago, Mulli, who is Mulli Brothers Company Managing Director, through two of his companies, Sunrise Pharmaceuticals and Chombe Foods Limited, askedfor over 11 billion Kwacha from the DPP government as compensation for damage of property and loss of business during the July 20 2011 demonstrations.
During that time, Malawians took to the streets in protests against the then President late Bingu Wa Mutharika, demonstrating against poor leadership, bad governance and nepotism.
On October 3, 2014 the High Court assessed the loss in the total sum of K3,048,557,708.71 [Three Billion Forty-Eight Million Five Hundred Fifty-Seven Thousand Seven Hundred and Eight Malawi Kwacha Seventy-One Tambala] and further loss of business was yet to be assessed or agreed by the parties. It must be noted that the High court awarded him the money in a default judgement.
Some time after that, former Attorney General Charles Mhango, a strong DPP member, dubiously authorized payment of MK3.1 billion compensation to the Leston Mulli-owned firms.
Mhango authorized the payment when his office was challenging the claims in the Supreme Court of Appeal, quite a strange phenomenon!
The interest of the attorney general should have been to vigorously protect government against such hefty claims for payment.
There was a chance that the government would have succeeded with the appeal at the Supreme Court.
By not protecting the government, Mhango showed that he had no interest of Malawi at heart.
Any reasonable person would suggest that President Mutharika, the Attorney General and Mulli benefited from the payment.
Otherwise, who in their right mind would just authorize such a huge payment without a fight?
The dubious payment wasdone when government is until now failing to collect MK4.9 billion in loans that Mulli-owned companies obtained from the defunct State-controlled Malawi Savings Bank (MSB).
Mulli was the largest beneficiary of the K6 billion toxic loans government took over from MSB, a then wholly State-owned commercial bank, sold in July 2015 to FDH Financial Holdings Limited.Mulli obtained MK4.9 billion from the bank while other firms owed over MK660 million.
It’s reported that four years after government set up the special recovery vehicle to collect the MK6 billion, no single tambala has been recovered.
After being paid the MK3.1 billion, Mulli is now claiming an additional K11 billion!
When asked about this new claim, Attorney General Kalekeni Kaphale, said, “we received the letter of demands and as government we are studying it.”
However, sources close to the matter say the payment was already processed.
This would not be surprising because Mulli, a DPP member was asking for the exorbitant payment from the DPP government through a fellow DPP supporter, Kalekeni Kaphale.
President Peter Mutharika is the leader of DPP, Leston Mulli is a DPP member and one of the financiers of DPP.
Former Attorney General Charles Mhango is also DPP member and serves as it’s legal adviser.
As DPP members, they have one common goal; to ensure that DPP continues ruling as it’s members continue getting stinking rich.
To continue ruling, they need to win elections. One of the necessary things they need to win an election is to have enough money for campaign.
If they lose the election, they will also need money, lots of it, because they will no longer have access to treasury.
It is only a fool who would think that Leston Mulli, a DPP financier, would claim billions of Kwachas from the DPP government without the approval of President Mutharika, the DPP presidential candidate.
Soon after the alleged MK11 billion payment, Mulli embarked on a serious campaign trip to the north.
He is obviously using the same money to campaign for DPP. These people are now employing mafia tactics to steal billions of tax payers money for campaign.
Now that they know their days in government are numbered, they have embarked on a stealing spree that is unprecedented in Malawi.
DPP thieves are working overtime to milk Malawi to death. They will never cease until Malawians take decisive action against them.
Otherwise, Malawi will one day wake up to an empty treasury. Vote these thieves out!
