Joyce Banda reportedly tells ministers she has lost faith in them as government officials are charged with misuse of office
Joyce Banda, the president of Malawi, has sacked her entire cabinet after a corruption scandal.
Up to 10 government officials have been arrested – including one who kept $25,000 (£15,648) at home and another who stashed banknotes in a car boot. They have been charged with money laundering, misuse of public office and corruption.
Last month nine senior police officers were jailed for 14 years each for fraud involving $164,000 (£102,654), while an official seen as an anti-corruption crusader was shot and seriously injured in an apparent effort to silence him. The scandal has been dubbed Cashgate by the media.
Banda reportedly told ministers she had lost faith in them at a crisis cabinet meeting on Thursday. Tusekele Mwanyongo, a presidential spokesperson, said she carried out the mass purge to "let the ministers be open for investigations in the scandal".
The point "is to make sure the ministers who may be implicated don't interfere with police in the investigations", Mwanyongo added.
Among the 25 cabinet members fired was the finance minister, Ken Lipenga, who on Thursday was leading a high-profile delegation in Washington to annual meetings with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
It was not clear whether he continued with his mission, but Mwanyongo said: "You stop forthwith to act as a minister of the Malawi government the moment it has been announced. It does not matter whether you are in Lilongwe or Washington."
Banda's hand may have been forced by western donors, who bankroll up to 40% of the national budget which goes to pay the country's 170,000 civil servants including the army and police.
On Thursday the EU warned that it would not release €29m (£25m) scheduled for December unless the scandal was resolved. Alexander Baum, the head of the EU mission in Malawi, said a clean-up was needed. Donors are "watching with keen interest and the EU will make its disbursement of the pledged budgetary support of €29m depending on how government deals with the crisis", he added.
Banda said she had appointed a special team, made up of police and government officials, to carry out a financial audit of the state purse, although the EU wants external auditors be hired for the job. Britain has offered to bring in forensic experts and the government is yet to respond to the offer.
The scandal forced the government to shut down its payment system last week so that it could investigate more than $4m (£2.5m) that went missing, delaying the payment of salaries to teachers, nurses and doctors.
Last month Paul Mphwiyo, 37, budget director in the finance ministry, was shot and seriously wounded by a gunman as he was apparently about to bust a corruption ring. He was airlifted to South Africa for specialised treatment and has recovered.
Banda, who appointed Mphwiyo, said it was a targeted attack to silence him. "It is only Mphwiyo who can tell us the truth."
The political analyst Ernest Thindwa said he welcomed Banda's sacking of the cabinet, describing it as an indicator that "so much looting was taking place".
He warned that the president must be careful in assembling another team. "This will be an opportunity to pick her new team based on competency and not political expediency."
Banda, one of only two female presidents in Africa, who came to power last year after the sudden death of the incumbent Bingu wa Mutharika, faces elections in May 2014 and was said to be enjoying a resurgence in popularity due to an improving economy.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/11/malawi-president-sacks-cabinet-corruption-scandal-banda
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