Let justice prevail on Cashgate

Tom Sangala January 13, 2018

380 1 minute read

The news that the Auditor General has finished looking into 37 cases to do with
Cashgate must have, no doubt, excited a lot of people.
While welcoming the development –just like any well meaning Malawian who does not tolerate corruption would do — we are, however, choosing to be cautious because the government has dragged its feet for too long since the scandal, which is probably the biggest to have hit the land, was revealed.
What concerns us the most is that concerned stakeholders have, on numerous occasions, been found wanting as they have peddled different versions in as far as progress on the matter is concerned.
Today we are told that there are 13 files, and the next you hear there are seven case files — and in worst scenarios — files cannot be traced. This is why a lot of Malawians have been forced to conclude that perhaps there could indeed be certain ‘untouchables’ within the echelons of power at Capital Hill that do not wish to see justice being served.
Whether those suspected are guilty or not, we believe that should be left for the courts to decide but there certainly should not be any sacred cows while sacrificial lambs are facing the wheels of justice all alone.
Impunity must stop in government and President Peter Mutharika must start walking the talk on curbing corruption, otherwise, the level of confidence in the current administration by development partners would continue to dwindle if he does not get rid of the rot responsible for the Cashgate mess, regardless of their political affiliation.
Most importantly, the public must be kept abreast of each step of the way, other than the Auditor General’s office keeping everyone agitated by holding onto information, on the premise of not wishing to jeopardise investigations.
The Auditor General and the Anti Corruption Bureau must ensure that they do a thorough job and at the end of the day, those who are responsible for piling misery on millions of Malawians after cashing in on their hard-earned tax money within the regions of K236 billion, must be held to account.
At the end of the day, justice should prevail and its wheels need to start moving at a lightning speed.