Pressure is mounting on Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima to resign after he was named in a high-profile bribery and money laundering scandal involving controversial British businessman Zuneth Sattar.
A grouping calling itself Citizens for Integrity and Sanity for Public Offices (CISPO) on Monday advised the Blantyre district commissioner of its plan to hold demonstrations on July 20 to force Chilima to step down and allow the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to undertake an unhindered probe into his alleged involvement in the scandal.
Chilima was cited in an ACB report as one of 84 public and private sector officials who received bribes from Sattar to influence the awarding of contracts of government ministries and agencies to companies owned by the businessman.
The vice president has, however, dismissed the allegations, accusing the ACB of allegedly conducting “a prejudicial one-sided” investigation without giving him the opportunity to defend himself.
CISPO chairperson Frederick Billy Malata said the public has lost confidence in Chilima’s ability to continue holding public office after he was fingered in corruption scandal.
President Lazarus Chakwera last month clipped Chilima’s powers for his alleged role in the Sattar corruption scandal.
The president withheld any delegated duties from Chilima pending the outcome of further investigations by the ACB into the alleged involvement of the vice president and other senior government officials in the scandal.
JN/APA