The Vice President of Malawi denies the accusations of corruption for which he has been stripped of his powers

June 24. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The vice president of Malawi, Saulos Chilima, has denied this Thursday the accusations of corruption for which the president of the African country, Lazarus Chakwera, stripped him of his powers the day before, after being singled out for a corruption scandal related to government contracts of €142.9 million ($150 million).

Chilima has criticized the Anti-Corruption Office (ACB) for publishing the report earlier this week, without knowing his version of events.

The Director of Communications of the Office of the Vice President, Pilirani Phiri, has signed a statement in which he assures that the Vice President of the State considers the way in which the Office has proceeded “very worrying”, as reported by the newspaper ‘Nyasa Times ‘.

“The Vice President of the State vehemently denies the accusations that have been leveled against him, and he will appreciate the opportunity to refute said accusations,” emphasized the statement signed by Phiri, adding that “the Office has accused Chilima of a crime without provide any details or proof”.

The vice president’s name appeared on the ‘Sattar’ list of the Anti-Corruption Office (ACB), the body that fights corruption and suspects that Chilima and other officials received money from businessman Zuneth Sattar.

Chakwera explained that he cannot remove or suspend the vice president because he is an elected official, so the head of state has no power to discipline him.

However, the president fired the inspector general of Police, George Kainja and in turn suspended the chief of staff of State Residences.

Chakwera prevailed in the 2020 elections, which were held after the presidential elections held in 2019 – in which former president Peter Mutharika was re-elected – were annulled by the courts due to irregularities recorded during the process.

After that, the new president promised in his inaugural speech at the end of June 2020 to fight corruption in the country and asked the judicial apparatus “to do more to end the culture of corruption and selective justice”, although members of his own Executive have been embroiled in corruption scandals.