Malawi: MCP Legislator Peter Dimba Resigns As Chairperson of Legal Affairs Committee Over 'Futile Fight Against Corruption'

3 February 2023

The furore that is surrounding Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Director General, Martha Chizuma is earning a lot of developments -- one being the resignation of chairperson of Legal Affairs Committee in the National Assembly, Peter Dimba.

In his letter to the Speaker of Parliament, the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) legislator for Lilongwe South Constituency, says despite the gains that Legal Affairs Committee has registered over the period that he was chairperson in its efforts to provide checks and balances to the excesses of the Executive arm of government, particularly on the fight against corruption, has proved futile.

Thus he says as its leader for the past 18 months, he takes "responsibility for failing Malawi in this regard" and has since tendered his resignation effective today, February 2.

In his letter to the Speaker of Parliament, Dimba said he was "incredibly grateful" for been given the opportunity to lead the constitutional committee, whose members were "wonderful, passionate and patriotic Parliamentarians in providing oversight to the Executive particularly on governance, human rights and administration of the law".

In December, when Chizuma was irregularly arrested at the personal instruction of the then Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Steve Kayuni over alleged abuse of office for a leaked audio in which the Director General was heard divulging some classified information on corruption investigations involving major suspect Zuneth Sattar, Dimba posted a statement on social media in which he alleged that "there is another 'boma' (government) that has hijacked our Boma and is running the show.

This followed President Lazarus Chakwera's directive that all charges laid against Chizuma, a process which the President claimed he wasn't even aware of.

Dimba said: "'Boma ndilodabwa kuti boma lamanga mayi Chizuma' (government is surprised that it has arrested Chizuma) struck me yesterday. It sounds simple and hilarious but it is complex and saddening.

"Now that the dust has settled and our eyes are clear, it's important to take a serious introspection. The statement above simply means there is another 'boma' that has hijacked our Boma and is running the show.

"This 'boma' is not what Malawians wanted when they defied all odds and matched in the streets to oust DPP. This 'boma' is not what the 5 Judges risked their lives for when they delivered that award-winning verdict on the landmark elections case.

"The 'boma' that arrested Martha yesterday seems to be more powerful than the real Boma we are part of. This 'boma' has so much power that at 3am, they could kickstart the Govt. machinery, drive this heavy machinery to Martha's compound, mobilize 40 police officers and arrest Martha like they were arresting Osama Bin Laden -- without considering the political consequences.

"And to drive that Govt machinery at 3 am, this 'boma' knows where the Govt machinery is packed and also has access to the keys of this machinery.

"I have come to discover that this is the 'boma' within our Boma that is responsible for the daily drama and scandals that are an embarrassment to our President, a disgrace to us, the Party members and a disservice to the Nation.

"This is the 'boma' that is undoing what the real Boma is doing and forcing us to take 2 steps backwards after taking a step forward. This is the 'boma' that is making decisions like they are Std 3 dropouts without any critical analysis and environmental scanning.

"This 'boma' has captured our intelligence/NIS and turned it into a machinery for rumour mongering and gossip and not a service for timely, correct and relevant intelligence information for effective running of our Govt.

"This 'boma' is run by 4 or 5 or 6 people, some of whom were not there when MCP was in the bush fighting a guerrilla war against DPP and therefore don't even care whether we lose or not as a result of their silly decisions," he had said.

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