The government of the United States has imposed travel restrictions on four ex-senior officials of the Malawi government and their spouses due to their “significant involvement in corruption.”
The US Embassy’s Facebook page announced that the former Solicitor General and Principal Secretary for Justice, Reyneck Matemba, former Director of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Agency, John Suzi-Banda, former Malawi Police Service lawyer Mwabi Kaluba, and former police Inspector General, George Kainja, are prohibited from entering the US.
According to a statement by the US Department of State, Matemba, Suzi-Banda, Kaluba, and Kainja abused their public positions by accepting bribes and other items of value from a private businessperson in exchange for awarding a government procurement contract for the Malawi Police Service.
The embassy stated that endemic corruption stifles Malawi’s economy, and that the US is on the side of the people of Malawi who want a more equitable, self-sufficient, and prosperous country.
The embassy pledged to continue working with those who are committed to fighting corruption and promoting justice.
The ban on the four former officials extends to their spouses Rhoda Violet Matemba Maxwell, Mariana Ismael Suzi-Banda, Bernadette Mwangosi, and Jacqueline de Silva Kainja, according to the statement.
