A Detailed Account Leading To Mphwiyo Shooting.

Magede Si Wandale

Before the shooting of the 39 years old Budget Director in the Ministry of finance Mr. Paul Mphwiyo. Sources within the Government, State house and Peoples Party have confirmed that Paul Mphwiyo was purportedly appointed as Budget Director in order to fund-raise a certain sum of money to invest in the ruling People’s Party 2014 bid campaign.

As a startup, sum of 300million Kwacha had to be submitted to the Peoples Party top most bosses  until 10 billion Kwacha had been siphoned out of the government treasury. To meet the target of the 10 Billion Kwacha, a sum of 300 million Kwacha was to be swindled on a weekly basis for a period of 33 weeks which is 8 Months from August 2013 to May 2014.

To achieve this plan, several  People had to be involved in the strategically planning Phase  which involved the following People:

1.       Ephraim Chibvundo, Peoples Party (PP)’s Director of International Relations.

2.        Mr Chibvundo roped in Mr. Lawrence Mpofu, Special Assistant to the President on Youth

3.       Mr Joseph Aironi, the Director of the National Intelligence Service.

4.       Mr Sam Madula, married to Justice Richard Banda (Retired) niece,

5.       Charity Banda, the daughter of the late Rev Pat Banda.

 After the president endorsed this idea to “fund-raise”; Paul Mphwiyo settled on using the Ministry of Climate Change account as a conduit for transferring the money. He recruited Patrick Sithole and Max Namata formerly accountant with Ministry of Lands but currently on interdiction to help because of their expertise in fiddling with IFMIS. Max Namata is married to Alice Kanyowire, daughter to the president’s advisor on Agriculture.

Although last week, Mrs Alice Kanyowire-Namata a was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for allegedly pocketing MK 75 million suspected to have come from a weekly amount meant to be passed onto the People’s Party (PP). (This trial will in all probability be concluded). Paul Mphwiyo according to this source, connived with Charles Chuka, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi so that large amounts could be deposited into Pika Namondo’s account. Mr Pika Manondo, formerly worked for Parliament as an Internal Auditor and is currently on interdiction.

 When a cheque was issued or a transfer made, the money would be collected from the Reserve Bank; with half sent to State House through Joseph Aironi or Sam Madula. Mr Sam Madula, by the way, was under investigations for having depleted the Pensions Fund. Mr Madula built a mansion in 2008 next to Wamkulu Palace in Area 12 and the investigations had reached an advanced stage resulting in his removal from Human Resources and Home Affairs. The investigations apparently stalled due to Bingu’s death.

The lack of “equity” – no honour among thieves - in sharing of the loot is what attracted the attention of Hophmally Makande and Ralph Kasambara, Mr Njanje Principal Secretary for Finance at the Office of President Cabinet (OPC), Mr Horace Kandoje - the Accountant General, who was also (allegedly) playing a key role in the money laundering /theft by public servants.

 Mphwiyo’s shooting was triggered by the fact that he was setting aside more money for himself at the expense of his accomplices. The jealousy was further incensed by his given charge of A K6 billion pay out in procurement of army goods for peacekeeping missions. A Malawian of Asian origin trading as Ocean Industries (OIL) Ltd was contracted to procure the goods for the army.

 However, Mphwiyo went to South Africa on his accord and sealed the deal on his own. He was in South Africa for a period being feted like royalty at Michelangelo Towers in Sandton. This, according to our source, is what infuriated OIL and Ralph Kasambara who had wanted a cut on the deal. In the process, OIL and Kasambara demanded that Mphwiyo no longer be trusted with sending the weekly sum to the president. They suggested, instead, that the money be delivered directly to the president by Charles Chuka or Joseph Aironi.

Paul Mphwiyo after reading the writing on wall started sending false SMS’ to himself pretending that some influential people were threatening him and he even showed these false text messages to the president. The president, afraid of the consequences if the matter got out of hand, summoned both Mpwiyo and Kasambara to resolve their differences amicably.

Our independent investigations have since revealed that Paul Mphwiyo is a cousin to President Banda, hence his being untouchable. This failed. There were several unsuccessful attempts to break into Mphwiyo’s house by a hired gang believed to have been sent by Makande. This gang however succeeded at Patrick Sithole house where they stole a huge sum of money.

According to our sources, it was Patrick Sithole’s reporting of this theft at Lingadzi Police which raised questions as to how he was able to come by such sums given his known means. All these developments were reported to the president by the Army Commander through an intelligence brief president prepared by Colonel Mbiti of Army Intelligence. It is alleged that the Army commander encouraged the president to fire Mr Paul Mphwiyo as soon as she returns from her trip from the United States.

Furthermore, the president prior to her departure, agreed to fire Mphwiyo. Whether she will do this, is another matter. Mr Aironi, whether intentionally or not, however complicated matters by informing the president that according to his sources the two guys being held on remand are not the real culprits. The real culprits as per Mr Aironi  are; Ralph Kasambara, Wapona Kita, Hophmally Makande, Ken Lipenga and a Mr Zunaid of OIL as the real brains behind the shooting of Mphwiyo.

Mrs Hawa Ndilowe, the Chief Secretary, was last Wednesday summoned by the diplomatic community for a briefing. She denied knowing anything but told the diplomats that President Joyce Banda knows everything related to the matter. In response the Diplomatic community openly expressed disgust and urged Hawa Ndilowe to encourage the President to cut short her visit to the US.

Our investigation has found out that Mrs Ndilowe has since indicated that she will resign in protest to the President’s reluctance to reveal the culprits in the whole saga. Her predecessor, Mr Bright Msaka, had refused to appoint Mphwiyo as Budget Director. Mrs Hawa had also refused but relented after being persuaded by Messrs Madula and Aironi who sold her the idea as a master-plan to fundraise for the 2014 campaign.

A cold war is meanwhile brewing at the heart of government among The Ministry of Justice, Army Commander, Hawa Ndilowe, Inspector General of Police, Director of ACB and  with the Minister of Justice insisting on the continuation of the sham trial of the two suspects even before Mphwiyo recovers, and the rest wanting to hold on.

The Inspector General of Police, Mr Loti Dzonzi, is not convinced that the arrested, are the right people. These doubts are what influenced quick changes at the police with the new appointments of Nelson Bophani as DIG Operations and Mrs Ngauma as DIG Administration; with Mrs Doreen Kapanga believed to be close to Kasambara has been appointed Deputy Ambassador to Ethiopia. The high level source says Inspector General Loti Dzonzi is so powerless as all these changes at the police have been instigated by former Instpector General Mr Aironi who now heads intelligence, and is up to his neck in the rotten deal. A directive has also being given for the Police to be brutal on the opposition, media and any whistle-blowers who will take the whole mystery into the public domain.