MALAWIAN VICE PRESIDENT SAULOS CLAUS CHILIMA ARRESTED
Written by Obwoge Joseph on November 25, 2022
Malawi’s Vice-President Saulos Claus Chilima has been arrested on allegations that he accepted money in exchange for awarding government contracts, this is arccoding to the country’s anti-corruption agency.
In a statement released by the agency, Chilima is accused of receiving $280,000 (Ksh 34, 216. 000) from a British businessman “and other items”.
Mr Chilima has appeared in court but has not commented on the charges and had already been stripped of his powers in June when he was first accused by the Anti-Corruption Bureau.
Saulos Chilima was named and other 83 Malawian officials as allegedly having corrupt dealings with the British businessman, named as Zuneth Sattar.
He is now facing six charges relating to corruption as his supporters appeared to clash with police as he entered the court in the capital, Lilongwe.
Mr Zuneth Sattar was arrested in the UK in October last year and is out on bail as he is accused of using connections with senior Malawi government officials and politicians to fraudulently obtain contracts to supply goods and services.
Mr Chilima came to power in 2020 as the running mate of President Lazarus Chakwera.
“Corruption has the power to rupture a country and its people beyond repair. Corruption has the power to make a government lose its legitimacy over its people,” the vice-president is quoted in a 2021 Anti-Corruption Bureau newsletter as saying.
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