The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) yesterday arrested Greenbelt Authority (GBA) chief executive officer Eric Dudley Chidzungu in connection with the alleged looting of K36.7 billion at the institution. ACB senior public relations officer Jacqueline Ngongonda said Chidzungu handed himself to the graft-busting agency yesterday, becoming the ninth person to be arrested in relation with the alleged looting. “He is being detained at Lumbadzi Police Station [in Lilongwe],” she said.
Ngongonda said two more people are yet to be arrested. Those arrested earlier in relation to the same, include four GBA officials and four private contractors. They include GBA director of irrigation operations Chisomo Kumbuyo, director of finance and investments Linda Phiri, procurement and assets disposal manager Masautso Kamowa and infrastructure development manager Synoden Kautsi.
On the other hand, the four private contractors include Einstein Construction Limited managing director Kenneth Khonje, EMD Consulting Engineers managing director Ephrone Mwenitete and directors for PLMB Engineering Investment Victor Chabwera and Stanley Bakolo. On Saturday, ACB acting director general Gabriel Chembezi said in a statement that the bureau started making the arrests following a complaint it received on November 10 2025. The complaint alleged that GBA awarded dubious contracts to the private contractors and made advance payments worth K28.9 billion.
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But according to Chembezi, ACBs investigations established that the amount was initially K36.7 billion and not the purported K28.9 billion detailed in the complaint. He said the advance payments were made even in the absence of performance bonds and fake work certificates. It is further alleged that the money was later withdrawn from different banks and used for political campaigns and payment of some GBA employees.
The contracts pertain to the construction and rehabilitation of four irrigation schemes, namely Nthola Ilora in Karonga, Lweya in Nkhata Bay, Mlambe in Mangochi and Nchalo in Chikwawa. Initially, the Malawi Government funded the four irrigation projects under the GBA initiative project.
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