As the K6.2 billion mega looting story continues, President Chakwera has fired Dr John Phuka, claiming that the Presidential Taskforce needs strong leadership.
Chakwera’s statement blames Dr Phuka for the looting of billions of Covid funds in which the president and his government are embroiled.
Dr John Phuka was the technical advisor on public health management and co-chaired the Taskforce with the Minister of Health who offered the political management leadership. Surprisingly, Chakwera has fired the public health management professional and spared the Minister of Health.
Analysts say Dr Phuka is only a victim and a scapegoat of the scandal as Chakwera and his government struggle to blame the scandal on professional public servants. All finances move from treasury to the spending unit with the approval of the Minister of Finance or his ministry and matters of funding were never managed by Dr Phuka as a public health expert.
Billions of money which the Peter Mutharika government left has vanished into thin air in the president’s office where the Department of Disaster Management (DODMA) is hosted. Chakwera moved DODMA from the Vice President to the very of the Office of the President and Cabinet “to monitor it closely”.
Whispers in Capital Hill corridors are revealing that the K6.2 billion has gone missing with guidance from State House and OPC.
State House gave instructions to a number of departments to create false workshops that never happened so that money cashed without workshops was paid back to State House. Some of the money was used to fund MCP campaign activities in Karonga bye-elections. State House officials also shared up some of the money.
Meanwhile, healthcare workers, teachers, police officers and MDF soldiers are fuming and planning to protest because the famous allowances never got to them.
