Malawi Arrests Ex-Finance Minister and Four Officials Over $250M Fraud

Malawi’s former finance minister, Joseph Mwanamveka, and four other ex-government officials were arrested on Monday for allegedly embezzling 447.5 billion kwacha ($258 million) from two state-owned companies, Salima Sugar Company and Greenbelt Initiative.

Among the arrested were Lloyd Muhara, the former secretary to the president; Cliff Chiunda, the ex-treasury secretary; and Collins Magalasi, the former CEO of the energy regulatory authority. Police spokesman Peter Kalaya confirmed the arrests, which followed a 2023 audit revealing significant financial irregularities.

Three others, including a former Salima director, had already been detained last year, bringing the total number of suspects to nine. Authorities are still pursuing Greenbelt Initiative’s former acting CEO, Henry Njoloma, who remains at large.

The arrested officials served under ex-president Peter Mutharika’s Democratic Progressive Party from 2014 to 2020, before the party lost power to President Lazarus Chakwera.