President Lazarus Chakwera on Friday took a swipe at the United States (US) government for what he said was undermining the anti-corruption and judiciary systems in the county.
Chakwera was responding to the travel ban which the US government has issued on four Malawian individuals who are alleged to have been involved in acts of corruption in their dealings with UK-based businessman, Zuneth Sattar.
On Wednesday, the US government banned the four from entering its territories because they are answering corruption charges the four are: former Solicitor General and Principal Secretary for the Ministry of Justice Reyneck Matemba, former Inspector General of Police George Kainja, former attorney at Malawi Police Service Mwabi Kaluba and former board chair of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority John Suzi Banda.
Speaking during the opening of an agriculture conference in Lilongwe, Chakwera said that for the past years, the government has tried its best to capacitate prosecution agencies in their work of fighting corruption in Malawi.
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“Apart from Malawi, where is a country in Africa where the courts have the power and ability to prosecute cases without fear or favour? Where is the country where the courts are promoting justice? Can you point out where the government gives anti-corruption agencies the power and ability to arrest and prosecute anyone suspected of corruption?” Chakwera said.
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The President said the American government has rushed to announce a ban on government officials suspected of being involved in corruption deals while their cases are in the courts in Malawi.
He said the move is calculated to show the world that there is more corruption in Malawi than in other countries.
He described this as undermining the courts as well as the anti-corruption agencies in Malawi.
“The truth is that Malawi is more interested in investigating corruption than other countries,” Chakwera said.
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Chakwera described the American government as one of the countries infested with crime as compared to other countries.
“America is a country where there is more gun violence than any other country, a country with more drug crimes than any other country, a country with more illegal border crossings than any other country.
“It is a country with more cases of police officers killing innocent black people than any other country, where racially-motivated knife crimes are rampant, a country which records more than 10 million robbery cases per year, which means that in America, robbery happens every five seconds,” he said.
He said it was therefore surprising that the US government has found the four Malawians to be the “most corrupt”.
“It nearly made me laugh when I heard this,” he said.
He said the government already suspended the four from their positions and their matters are in court.
“So why is America undermining our laws and courts and make judgment in cases that are already being handled by the courts and the Anti-Corruption Bureau?” he wondered.
He said Malawians will not be party to the undermining the country’s courts who he said are more competent than American courts.
He said foreigners take a cue from Malawian citizens who find pleasure in talking ill about the country.
He called on Malawians to be patriotic, to speak well about and market the country and the treasures it has to offer to the world.
Chakwera said he was delighted with the country’s agriculture commercialisation programme which he said has attracted large foreign companies for investment in mega farms.
“These are the things that bring wealth to the country and the development of the country,” he said.
Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale said he was optimistic that with farming, the country will improve its forex availability as individuals and smallholder farmers have shown willingness to invest in the sector.
Director of Agriculture and Extension Services Alfred Mwenefumbo said Malawi is sitting on 3.6 million acres of agriculture land that is idle and needs to be cultivated.
