Malawi Congress Party (MCP) lawmakers Tuesday boycotted parliamentary committee meetings and vowed to maintain the protest over what they described as continued arrests of legislators.
They said they are unhappy because provisions of the Privileges Act grant legislators immunity a matter of procedure, reminding parliamentary leadership about what the Privileges Act stipulates, and it is incumbent on them to engage the other authorities.
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For us, definitely we will be back in Parliament or here doing things related to parliamentary committees when we are 100 percent sure of our security because that’s exactly our ultimate goal,” Chithyola Banda said.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the Malawi Police Service said it had arrested Gwengwe, Kawale and former Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Colleen Zamba, in connection with investigations into contracts awarded to East Bridge involving fertiliser, soya beans and tobacco.
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Malawi Police Service (MPS) spokesperson Lael Chimtembo said police officers conducted the arrests through a joint operation with the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
According to Chimtembo, the contracts between East Bridge and the Government of Malawi, the Ministry of Agriculture and Smallholder Farmers Fertilizer Revolving Fund of Malawi exceeded an estimated total value of K200 billion.
The suspects are being investigated for offences of abuse of office, fraud other than false pretences and money laundering.
Police say they will appear in court soon.
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“The MPS wishes to assure the public that investigations are ongoing, and further details will be communicated in due course,” Chimtembo said.
