Reyneck Matemba, the former Director-General of the Malawian Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), has been detained on suspicion of graft.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the ACB’s spokesman, Egrita Ndala, claimed that Matemba had been detained by security personnel for allegedly accepting a bribe before signing a contract for the country’s police service to receive food supplies.
Along with him, John Suzi-Banda, the former director of Malawi’s public procurement agency, who had also been charged in the transaction, was taken into custody.
Ndala claimed that the two men reportedly accepted payments from businessman Zuneth Sattar in exchange for supplying the police department with 350,000 food ration boxes totaling $7,875,000.
He continued by saying that Matemba had been paid $10,000 by Sattar through an acquaintance to facilitate the purchase.
On his part, Suzi-Banda allegedly received $2,900 from Sattar’s agent, Zun Cheena, to influence the award of the contract to Sattar’s company without objection.
Both men are to be officially charged with abuse of power and face up to 12 years in prison if convicted.
