Mutharika acts on corruption promise

Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika's administration has made its first arrest for fraud and corruption after coming into office in May this year. The deputy research director of the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF), Humphreys Mvula, was arrested on Friday in the commercial capital, Blantyre. The newly appointed Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP,) Ismael Wadi, told reporters that Mvula was facing charges of corruption, fraud and tax evasion. Mvula, chief executive of the state-run Shire Bus Line, Malawi's biggest bus company, is being investigated by the Anti-Corruption Bureau after allegations of dubious purchases of a new fleet of buses and spare parts. Wa Mutharika had promised in June to "strengthen the Anti-Corruption Bureau" and that "no politician, no minister, no public servant will escape if he/she is found to be corrupt". The IMF, the European Union, the World Bank, and the governments of Britain and Denmark suspended budgetary support to Malawi following concerns about over-expenditure and corruption by former president Bakili Muluzi's government. Mvula is a close aide to Muluzi, who is still chairman of the ruling party. However, analyst Rafiq Hajat cautioned that the government "should be no hurry to arrest people. I was surprised to hear from the DPP that Mvula would not be released on bail soon, for fear of jeopardising the evidence. Then my question is: why did they arrest him if they do not have enough evidence?" Hajat said the government should be applauded for implementing what it promised, but "it should not do what the Zambian president did to [former Zambian president Frederick] Chiluba" - five years after Chiluba's arrest for alleged corruption, the Levy Mwanawasa administration was still unable to bring evidence against the former Zambian president. Chiluba has been charged with the theft of tens of millions of US dollars during his 10 years in office and has been on trial since December last year. Political analyst Nixon Khembo pointed out that "Mvula is not just an ordinary Malawian. He is a senior member of the UDF party, and Mutharika is sending a message to all UDF that no one will be spared if found to be corrupt."