US embassy cable - 04LILONGWE881

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LILONGWE 000881 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/S ADRIENNE GALANEK 
STATE FOR EB/IFD/ODF MARLENE BREEN 
STATE FOR EB/IFD/OMA FRANCES CHISHOLM 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/10/2014 
TAGS: ECON, KCOR, EINV, PGOV, MI, Corruption, Economic, Political 
SUBJECT: MALAWI ANTI-CORRUPTION CHIEF REPLACED 
 
REF: LILONGWE 839 
 
Classified By: Econoff William Taliaferro for reasons 1.5 b and d 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (U) President Bingu wa Mutharika has unexpectedly replaced 
the director of Malawi's Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB).  This 
move comes as a commision report on corruption at the state 
agricultural monopoly was released and a key witness in that 
and another high-profile scandal has disappeared.  Mutharika 
continues to highlight anti-corruption efforts as a 
centerpiece of his administration, and he appears to be 
beefing up the ACB to deliver convictions on politically 
sensitive cases.  End summary. 
 
 
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Invitation to a Firing 
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2. (C) According to a well-placed source in the ACB, 
President Mutharika summoned Justice H. M. Mtegha, director 
of the ACB, to a meeting Friday, September 3.  There he 
offered him the position of deputy at the Malawian mission to 
the UN.  Mtegha declined the job, citing his wife's poor 
health.  Mutharika then offered him the post of high 
commissioner in Tanzania, which he also declined.  Perhaps 
beginning to understand the purpose of the meeting, Mtegha 
then expressed a desire to go back to the Malawian high 
court.  While Mtegha was still in the room, Mutharika then 
asked an aide to contact Gustave Kaliwo about Mtegha's job at 
ACB. 
 
3. (C) Mutharika offered no reason for replacing Mtegha, but 
more than one source, including one at the ACB, has told us 
Mtegha backed off from at least one politically sensitive 
case at the behest of then-President Bakili Muluzi.  The ACB 
source indicated that this was the most likely reason for 
Mtegha's sacking.  Generally, though, the ACB under Mtegha's 
leadership had a reputation as the most aggressive player--or 
at least not the bottleneck--in fighting corruption. 
 
4. (U) Kaliwo, Mtegha's replacement, is coming to the job 
from private practice, where he has prosecuted several cases 
on behalf of ACB, and from a previous career as the first 
lawyer appointed to Malawi's police force.  He appears to fit 
the mold of other Mutharika appointments in being 
technocratic: technically competent and without compelling 
political connections.  The appointment may increase the 
independence of the already relatively independent ACB. 
 
 
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Divining Intentions: It's All in the Timing 
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5. (U) The timing of the change is interesting in itself. 
The ACB is preparing several already public cases involving 
former ministers of the Muluzi regime (see reftel).  A week 
ago, the government released its official report on the 2002 
"maize scam," in which former finance minister Friday Jumbe 
is accused of selling subsidized maize at a profit during a 
famine, with the knowledge of Muluzi.  Peter Mulamba, a key 
witness in that and another high-profile case, has recently 
gone missing and is feared to be dead.  The chairman of the 
commission investigating the scandal has reportedly received 
death threats and has had one person arrested for threatening 
him in person.  The Mulamba disappearance has distracted 
Parliament's budget session as members have demanded an 
official investigation. 
 
6. (U) Meanwhile, Mutharika is continuing to build popular 
support for his government on two issues: fiscal 
responsibility and control of corruption.  In his budget 
speech on August 30, Mutharika promised "action, action, and 
more action" in fighting corruption.  His newly appointed 
director of public prosecutions, Ishmael Wadi, has been 
grabbing headlines by naming the targets of investigations 
and pending prosecutions.  Several senior UDF officials have 
been arrested for corruption and other crimes.  In essence, 
Mutharika appears to be building momentum--and pressure--for 
his government to convict senior officials of the Muluzi 
administration. 
 
 
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Comment: Does It All Add Up? 
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7. (C) To all appearances, replacing the ACB director is 
another step in building an independent, technically 
competent team to prosecute politically sensitive corruption 
cases.  The ACB has told us privately that it intends to go 
after the former chief of state.  But Mutharika owes his 
presidency to Muluzi, and it is Muluzi who cobbled together 
Mutharika's governing coalition.  Added to which, Muluzi 
seems strangely untroubled about the threats being made 
against him and his cronies (though the same cannot be said 
for the cronies, who are protesting vigorously in the press). 
 Most international observers, and many Malawians, are 
remaining cautious for the time being; they are unlikely to 
celebrate the beginning of the end of corruption before the 
Mutharika administration delivers its first important 
conviction. 
 
RASPOLIC