Malawi’s Vice-President Saulos Chilima arrested for corruption

The country’s anti-corruption agency reports that Saulos Chilima, Malawi’s vice president, has been detained on suspicion of accepting payment in exchange for awarding government contracts.

In a statement, it is claimed that he was accused of receiving “and other stuff” from a British businessman worth $280,000 (£230,000).

Despite showing up in court, Mr. Chilima did not address the accusations.

In June, when he was initially accused by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, he had already lost his powers.

According to the report, he and 83 other Malawian officials engaged in corrupt business with Zuneth Sattar, a British businessman.

There are currently six allegations of corruption against Mr. Chilima.

Video from local media, according to the Reuters news agency, appears to show his supporters fighting with police as he entered the court in Lilongwe, the country’s capital.

Mr. Sattar, who was detained in the UK in October of last year, is currently free on bail.

He is charged with obtaining contracts for the provision of products and services through fraud by utilizing his contacts with senior Malawian politicians and government officials.

The contracts covered water cannons, food rations, and armored personnel carriers, the Financial Times reported in May.

Mr. Sattar has said he did nothing wrong.

As President Lazarus Chakwera’s running mate in 2020, Mr. Chilima assumed power.

During his previous campaign, he ran on an anti-corruption platform, pledging to put an end to years of corruption in government and to eradicate poverty in one of the world’s poorest nations.

“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.

Source: BBC Africa