[dropcap]M[
/dropcap]ALAWI President Lazarus Ch
akwera on Tuesday relieved his Vice President Saulos Chilima of all delegated powers after the latter was named in a corruption scandal that has rocked the country.
A probe into p
rocurement fraud by the country’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) concluded that 53 current and former public officers received money from British-Malawian businessman Zuneth Sattar between March and October 2021, Chakwera said.
Sattar is being investigated in Britain and Malawi on corruption, fraud and money-laundering charges.
According to Malawi’s constitution, Chakwera cannot suspend or remove Chilima because he is an elected official.
‘The best I can do for now… is to withhold from his office any delegated duties while waiting for the bureau to substantiate it
s allegations against him,’ said Chakwera.
There was no immediate response from Chilima, who partnered with Chakwera to win the 2020 presidential election on an anti-corruption platform.
