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Government is investigating alleged financial irregularities at the Malawi mission in South Africa, and meanwhile Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs Anthony Livuza has been sent on leave, Malawi News can reveal.
Sources at the ministry confided in Malawi News that an inspection team from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was deployed to South Africa to audit queries on matters of planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation as well as capacity for financial management and control at the Embassy.
The sources said the inspection team submitted a report to Livuza on queries over matters of financial management and on February 17, 2010 Livuza wrote a letter reference number EA/1/1/1, demanding an explanation from Malawi High Commissioner to South Africa Agrina Mussa over financial mismanagement at the Embassy. But Minister of Foreign Affairs Eta Banda said what is happening in South Africa is not a criminal audit but a periodic office management to follow through whether the money that was budgeted for the Malawi Mission in South Africa has been used for its intended activities. “In normal financial management, you have a budget, you check it over time and then you review to see where you are; so when you are reviewing, it’s an audit and that does not imply anybody is a criminal or anybody has done anything wrong. “It’s a routine audit. It can happen in Washington or any other Malawi mission. The ministry is probing no one about anything,” said Banda. She said Livuza has gone on holiday and that he is in South Africa with his family. Livuza’s absence at the Ministry puts Director of Finance and Administration Eric Ning’ang’a as the ministry’s controlling officer but when contacted on Thursday over the matter he was non-committal.
“I don’t know anything about the team that went to South Africa to conduct the investigations because at the time the PS sent that team I was never informed.
“About the PS, all I know is that he has gone on leave,” said Ning’ang’a.
But sources said Livuza, as Controlling Officer, has been asked by undisclosed authorities to explain how funds were mismanaged at the Malawi High Commission in Pretoria.
Apparently, a report that the team has submitted to the Ministry indicates that they (the team) also visited High Commission’s bankers to check balances.
The report by the inspection team indicates that the Malawi Mission in Pretoria was funded K25 million in the first quarter of this financial year, for the maintenance of the official residence and staff houses but queried that while the project has not yet started, all the allocated funds have already been depleted, used on activities other than the intended projects.
It further pointed out that an inspection of the Chancery and the staff houses established an urgent need for maintenance as they are “in very bad shape.”
According to the letter, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is demanding an explanation from the Malawi Mission in South Africa on why scarce resources that could have addressed urgent maintenance needs have been diverted.
The letter said the Malawi diplomat in South Africa was entrusted with the management of the sale of government property in Namibia “whose sale government approved in 2009.”
“The inspection team established that one property was sold for the consideration of R1,557,878.13 on 27th November, 2009. This transaction was not communicated to me as required,” reads Livuza’s letter.
The PS demanded the diplomat to explain and provide an update on the status of the remaining property.
Livuza pointed out that Malawi government owns property in Cape Town and the Mission is entrusted with the management of that property including collection of rent.
“The inspection team established that the Mission has since January 2004, collected R554,300.35. This money has been used by the Mission without government authority,” reads the letter in part.
Mussa has been asked again to explain why rentals for the nine months from May 2009 to January, 2010 have “not been collected by the Malawi Mission in Pretoria at the time of the inspection mission.”
The Malawi envoy is also required to explain why between September to November, 2009 the High Commission spent 22 percent of the funding for the three months [K2,368,462.80 out of a total funding of K10,465,716 on] on vehicle hire.
Mussa was ordered to give her explanation by February 19, 2010 according to the letter, which is also copied to the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Bright Msaka.
When contacted Mussa was non-committal on receipt of the letter from the Ministry saying she needed time to respond to the queries.
Efforts to talk to Livuza proved futile as all his phones could not be reached.
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