Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika has suspended the head of the national graft-fighting agency just hours after the Southern African nation’s previous president was charged with stealing aid money.
Wa Mutharika, who has launched a crackdown on graft, suspended Gustave Kaliwo, the head of the Anti-Corruption Bureau on ”disciplinary grounds”, a brief statement by the president’s office said late on Thursday without elaborating.
On Thursday morning, former president Bakili Muluzi was charged with 42 counts of graft, theft and breach of trust after his arrest for allegedly siphoning off $12-million of aid funds.
”The alleged counts relate to monies received from foreign governments as aid to Malawi, which was used for personal purposes,” Gustave Kaliwo had told journalists after grilling Muluzi.
Muluzi, who was head of state of the poor Southern African nation from 1994 to 2004, is the top-most figure in a sweeping anti-graft campaign launched by Wa Mutharika, his successor and now estranged protege.
Wa Mutharika, who has faced ouster moves after breaking away from Muluzi’s party to form his own party last year, has blamed his woes partly on his tough stance against corruption, rampant during the 10-year Muluzi era. — Sapa-AFP