Former Malawi President Peter Mutharika received a donation of 2,400 bags of cement from businessman Ahmed Muhammad Chunara through his personal bodyguard, Norman Chisale, court records have revealed. This information is contained in a statement recorded by the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) from Mutharika on August 12, 2021, in Mangochi.
The statement is among disclosures in Criminal Case No. 2 of 2022 in the Revenue Division, where Chisale, former Chief of Staff Peter Mukhito, and former MRA Deputy Commissioner General Roza Mbilizi are facing charges of abusing Mutharika’s taxpayer identification number (T-pin) to import cement worth K5 billion duty-free.
According to Mutharika’s statement, the 2,400 bags were delivered in four consignments of 600 bags each. He stated: “After the issue came through the newspapers, Tadikira informed me that there was a consignment of 2,400 bags delivered in four consignments, which were sourced by Mr. Norman Chisale through a donor named Chunara. According to Tadikira, the cement came in four trucks of 600 bags each. However, I neither talked to the donor nor thanked him.”
Mutharika, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presumptive presidential nominee, further disclosed that he personally purchased 16,750 bags of cement for seven housing projects between 2014 and 2020. These projects included his retirement home in Mangochi (3,500 bags), a Balaka project (500 bags), a Mapanga fence and two uncompleted houses (2,000 bags), Nyambadwe boys’ quarters (700 bags), a 2019 project in Area 43 and Tchoda hostel near the Malawi University of Science and Technology (3,850 bags), and houses at Six Miles (2,400 bags).
Mutharika stressed that no cement for these projects was imported duty-free. He also stated that Chisale supervised the projects in his absence, while his stepson, Tadikira, an engineer, was involved in procuring materials and overseeing construction.
“As regards to the contract/agreement between myself and Mr. Chunara, I would like to state that I do not know him and there was no contract/agreement between Mr. Chunara and myself regarding the importation of duty-free cement. I have never met Mr. Chunara; neither do I know him,” Mutharika declared in his statement.
The issue of alleged abuse of Mutharika’s T-pin first surfaced in The Nation about a week before the fresh presidential elections on June 23, 2020. Following the report, Mutharika issued a statement on July 24, 2020, distancing himself from the transactions and reiterating that he had not instructed anyone to import cement on his behalf.
Both the MRA and Fiscal Police recorded statements from Mutharika regarding the case, while the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) attempted to do so in 2021 but later postponed the process.
Meanwhile, the case against Chisale, Mukhito, and Mbilizi continues, with the State currently presenting evidence. Recently, MRA Deputy Director of ICT Risk and Cyber Security Wilson Upindi testified in court, detailing how data extracted from Chunara’s phone aided the tax evasion investigation. Chunara, initially a suspect, later became a State witness.
The trial remains ongoing as authorities work to establish the full extent of the alleged abuse of Mutharika’s T-pin for duty-free imports.
