Commentator Nasser weighs in on Mutharika’s ‘cesspit’ of pardoned convicts - Malawi News | Breaking News, Politics, Business & Sports | Nyasa Times
A Malawian social commentator has taken aim at President Arthur Peter Mutharika, accusing him of surrounding himself with individuals previously convicted on corruption-related charges — with the appointment. . .
A Malawian social commentator has taken aim at President Arthur Peter Mutharika, accusing him of surrounding himself with individuals previously convicted on corruption-related charges — with the appointment of Henry Mussa cited as the latest example. Dr. Thom Mpinganjira: Convicted but pardonedIn a Facebook post that has since gone viral, commentator Idris Ali Nasser said it was neither by accident nor by design that Mutharika keeps appointing to cabinet and other top positions men and women who have previously been charged with crimes ranging from corruption to abuse of office and theft. “Those are the people that he has in his circle,” Nasser wrote, before zeroing in on Mussa’s case. The commentator reminded his followers that in 2023 — just three years ago — the High Court sentenced Mussa, who was then serving as Minister of Information, to a custodial term after finding him guilty of conspiracy to steal and receiving stolen property. The case centred on the disappearance of ten computers and a generator donated to the Ministry of Information by the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA). Mussa did not serve his full term. He was released a few months into his sentence after then-President Lazarus Chakwera exercised presidential mercy, pardoning him on medical grounds alongside ten other chronically ill inmates. Nasser argued that the pardon effectively placed Mussa in the same standing as businessman Thom Mpinganjira, who was similarly convicted before being pardoned. Both men, he said, had been “baptized by the hand of Lazarus” and “redeemed from the burden of previous sin” — meaning that, like newborns, neither now carries a criminal record, despite each having been convicted by a competent High Court. He took a swipe at those who argue pardoned convicts should not have their records expunged, suggesting such critics “should be forgiven for not knowing how the system works. ”Mussa’s latest appointment — confirmed separately this week — was not directly addressed in Nasser’s post, beyond being singled out as the freshest instance of what he described as a troubling trend within State House. Neither State House nor Mussa had responded to Nasser’s remarks by the time of publication. Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :Follow us in TwitterPost navigation