Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Something's rotten in Malawi...

Update: More money talks, bull shi& walks in Malawi? Madonna to build school in Malawi. A generous gesture she announces the day before the final adoption hearing for her soon to be adopted son, David Banda. What a coincidence.


Malawi police arrest ex-security, political chiefs over allegations of coup plot.

Heavily armed police arrested former security and political leaders who served under Malawi's former president in pre-dawn raids Tuesday over allegations they wanted to overthrow the government.

Information Minister Patricia Kaliati said the government had evidence that the men arrested were involved in "sinister plans" to oust President Bingu Mutharika and that they wanted to mislead junior officers to join the plot.

The arrest sweep was the latest twist in a long-running power struggle in the southern African nation between Mutharika and his predecessor, Bakili Muluzi. All those arrested Tuesday served under Muluzi's administration from 1994 to 2004.



There's more. Read this report of a reported al Qaeda henchman on the President's payroll. And get this, he's dating the President's daughter. What's up with that?
From the Nyasa Times:

Malawi President Bingu Mutharika (shown left) is harbouring a hired Eritrean 'deadly ex-soldier sniper assassin' masquerading as a business consultant currently dating his divorced daughter Duwa, an intelligence report made available to Nyasa Times has revealed. Rikki Shayo real name Rashid Abdul Shariki – wanted in Eritera (sic) for various crimes - came to Malawi as a refugee from travelling on a Kenyan passport. He belongs to a Mafia group called Mujiha linked to Al Qaeda operations in the horn of Africa.

"The man whose real name is Rashid Abdul Shariki is now known as Rikki Shayo. If you heard the history of this person, you can not associate with him. He is on the most top wanted list in Eritrea to answer some cases of robberies, brutality and other crimes," reads the January 25, 2008 intelligence communication in part.

Shayo is currently employed by President Mutharika's Guardian Newspaper in Lilongwe as Editor-in-Chief and drives a State House four wheel-drive courtesy of Malawian tax payers.

He is also behind a President Mutharika bid for the fourth mobile phone operator currently being bulldozed on MACRA by Minister of Information and Civic Education Particia Kaliati.

The 'bandit' had a brief stint at a non-governmental organisation Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation [CHRR] as a Communication Officer where his main task was production of advocacy literature.

"It is indeed true that he undertook some consultancy work for CHRR but that was for a very short time since we discovered that his performance was not commensurate with his claimed qualifications,"



... said Executive Director Undule Mwakasungura who could not clearly remember how Shayo came to their organisation.

A Kenyan intelligence official only called Ngingi for this purpose said Shayo recently submitted a 49 paged report to the leader of Mujika in Kenya on his investigations on the opposition.

"Shayo submitted the 49 pages report for the phase one for the time he stayed in Malawi and he is expected to be back in the country in the next two weeks. "His report was about what he finds in his research about the downfall of Mutharika, his cabinet and government; and how to 'deal away' with the opposition party leaders troubling the Head of State," Ngingi said.

Mutharika's prospective son-in-law boasts that the Malawi government is still sleeping and people are with closed eyes hence its failure to 'see-off' the opposition leaders.

He is said to have used his manipulative techniques and intelligence to infiltrate the Mutharika household and sell the Mujika services to the Head of State.

The Eritrean has already gained the Malawi citizenship courtesy of Duwa and he gets a guard of honour from presidential guards at the New State House gates.

"He reported that he had gained favour with the President Mutharika family and now he has got citizenship of Malawi and the President's daughter had put trust in him," said the official.

The Malawi Secret Intelligence Service could not comment on how they had let a man not vetted at all, to get close to the Head of State.