State House has dismissed claims that President Peter Mutharika may have benefited from the proceeds of a fraudulent Malawi Police Service food rations contract when money was deposited into a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) account for which he is a sole signatory.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has been investigating a K2.8 billion food rations contract which Malawi Police awarded to Pioneer Investments, a company owned by Zameer Karim – an Asian of Malawian origin.
But a purported ACB confidential report, which went viral on social media on Friday, suggested that K145 million was deposited into the DPP standard bank account by Karim as a token of appreciation.
State House confirmed the existence of the DPP account at Standard Bank saying it was set up to support the party’s fundraising activities to build a party headquarters.
Without mentioning Vice President Salous Chilima, the statement, signed by Presidential Press Secretary Mgeme Kalirani blamed a young immature politician of “leaking false information to defame and unseat the President.”
“It has come to the attention of the State House that there is a character assassination scheme from some disgruntled politician targeted at the good character of His Excellency the President Prof. Arthur Peter Mutharika,” the statement said.
The ACB’s confidential report, which State House described as a ‘fake’’, hit social media platforms on Friday like wildfire with comments vilifying the Head of State. Some social commentators like Stanley Kenani called for the President to resign and allow an investigation against him to proceed.
The statement said the politician has been making innuendoes and speaking in parables with the intention of scandalizing the name of the President his government and the Democratic Progressive Party.
“The latest of the outputs of the scheme by the disgruntled politician was a write-up purporting to came from the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in which his agents miserably failed to drag the name of President Mutharika and connect it to an alleged corrupt transaction in the Police Service,” reads the statement in part
According to the leaked ACB confidential report the findings implicates Innocent Bottomani, a senior police officer as having been the master mind of the whole deal.
Karim is said to have written a cheque and paid into the DPP account. In interviews on Friday this week, both Karim and Bottomani, denied any involvement in the deal and dismissed allegation of fraud as reported. Bottomani said it was a witch-hunt.
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