Cables can exclusively reveal that the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has launched a manhunt for former Finance Minister Simplex Chithyola Banda after he allegedly evaded arrest over corruption charges linked to the Mega Farms Project.
Chithyola is accused of misusing public office by approving K29.4 billion in extra-budgetary funding for the Greenbelt Authority on July 15, 2025, without lawful justification.
A warrant was issued Thursday by the Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate Court, but ACB officers failed to arrest him after he reportedly disappeared from his residence.
This is Chithyola’s second corruption case in weeks. He was arrested in April over the controversial Eastbridge fertiliser deal, where prosecutors say he authorised payments that caused a K25 billion loss after fertiliser was never supplied.
He surrendered to Fiscal Police at Area 6, spent two nights in custody, and was later granted bail by the Mkukula Magistrate Court.
The new warrant deepens the former MCP minister’s legal troubles as the ACB intensifies its crackdown on public officials implicated in procurement scandals.
About the Author
