Anti Corruption Bureau czar Martha Chizuma has not been paying rentals to Umodzi Park for over a year and has accumulated arrears amounting to $60,000, approximately K61 million.
Chizuma moved into one of the Presidential villas in 2021 after her request to government for more security was granted.
However, she has been playing hide and seek on payment of rentals for reasons best known to herself.
Impeccable sources both at Umodzi Park and ACB say Chizuma have confirmed of the situation at hand and have blamed her for failing to live up to the contract.
ACB sources are surprised because the director has been drawing money from the bureau for the same purpose.
“When she applied for a new residence at the villas, she was advised by the Human Resources department to transfer payment obligations to government which had committed to be giving her the money for the new place. We remain surprised on why she still draws a housing allowance here at the bureau while also getting another amount from government for the same,” said an inside source from ACB.
Her conduct has raised eyebrows as she is openly breaking the integrity code. She is the first person expected to adhere to values of good governance due to the nature of her job.
The ACB source says Chizuma is supposed to inform the human resources department to rectify the anomaly of receiving double housing allowance. Failure to do so means she is complicit in this wrongdoing and can be taken to task both administratively and legally.
And another source at Umodzi Park was quick to hint on possible eviction of their uncooperative tenant.
“She is abusing the goodwill that has been there between government and Umodzi Park. We have been failing to evict her because she is here at the back of a directive from authorities. Much as security is important, she needs to pay rentals as anyone else because this is a business which thrives only when people pay what is due to property owners. We will be left with no choice It won’t be long before we evict her if she continues ignoring our request,”
The 14 Presidential villas were constructed during Bingu wa Mutharika’s first term but opened in 2015 to house high-level delegates during their stay in Malawi. Since then the estate has hosted heads of state and government and top dignitaries from across the globe.
