US bans four ex-Malawian officials over corruption allegations

The United States government has banned four former senior Malawi officials from entering the country over corruption allegations.

Some of the officials include former police chief George Kainja, former solicitor general and secretary of justice Reyneck Matemba, former director of public procurement and disposal of assets John Suzi-Banda and former police service attorney Mwabi Kaluba.

The State Department designated the four officials “as generally ineligible for entry into the United States, due to their involvement in significant corruption”.

The sanction also extends to the spouses of the ex-officials.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the US government saod the banned officials “abused their public positions by accepting bribes and other articles of value from a private businessperson in exchange for awarding a government procurement contract for the Malawi Police Service”.

The former officials are also facing charges in Malawi after being included on a list of over 80 notable Malawians accused by the anti-graft agency of illicit dealings with a British businessman, Zuneth Sattar.

The 2023 Corruption Perception Index released by Transparency International shows that Malawi’s performance has remained constant on corruption scores.

The report shows that Malawi has scored 34 out of 100 points and has been ranked 115 out of 180 countries that have been assessed.