The anti-corruption fight is still raging with full force in Malawi. Several prominent figures have been arrested but this time, the head of the country’s anti-corruption bureau was arrested last Tuesday before being released on bail. 

The director general of the Malawi Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Martha Chizuma (photo), was recently arrested by the police, local media reported last Tuesday. 

According to Malawi 24 media, quoting the arrested official’s lawyer, Martha Kaukonde, Martha Chizuma is accused of leaking information in an audio recording in which she was talking to a third party about the fight against corruption in the country. In the audio, which leaked on social media in January, the respondent also accuses President Lazarus Chakwera of not supporting her in her fight against corruption.

"I can only confirm that we arrested Chizuma this morning. We will provide details later," Malawi Voice quoted national police spokesman Peter Kalaya as saying.

In recent months, Malawi has been rocked by corruption cases. A local media report says that last August, the former head of the country's Anti-Corruption Bureau, Reyneck Matemba, was arrested for accepting bribes for a contract to supply food to the local police force. Later, John Suzi Banda, the former director of the Public Procurement Agency, was also arrested.  In late November, Malawi's Vice President Saulos Chilima was also arrested in another corruption case involving Zuneth Abdul Rashid Sattar, a British businessman.

Jean-Marc Gogbeu