BREAKING NEWS! Vice President has been arrested

The Vice-President of Malawi Saulos Chilima has been arrested on allegations that he accepted money in exchange for awarding government contracts, the country’s anti-corruption agency says.

Saulos is accused of receiving $280,000 (£230,000) from a British businessman “and other items”, a statement says.

Dr Chilima pleaded not guilty to the corruption charges in court on Friday.

Vice-President-Saulos-Chilima-came-to-power-in-2020-alongside-President-Lazarus-Chakwera

Earlier alone in June. Saulos had already been stripped of his powers when he was first accused by the Anti-Corruption Bureau.

It was reported that he and other 83 Malawian officials allegedly had corrupt dealings with the British businessman, named Zuneth Sattar.

This is the first time a sitting vice president has been in this position in Malawi.

He was questioned by anti-corruption officials on Friday morning in offices that had been cordoned off by security officers. Previous attempts to question him had been disrupted by his supporters.

Saulos came to power in 2020 as the running mate of President Lazarus Chakwera. They are from different political parties but entered a coalition to defeat the incumbent Peter Mutharika.

Last year, Malawi was ranked 110th out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index.

Source: BBC