The Mutharika family has been failing to explain and account for the theft and plunder of Malawi’s public assets abroad, The Pangolin Online has a detailed account of how the First Couple was at the centre of the looting that happened at the Embassies.
During former president Arthur Peter Mutharika’s rule, his wife Gertrude and a circle of close associates orchestrated the sale of embassy properties in South Africa and beyond, depriving Malawians of millions of dollars’ worth of state assets.
Malawi’s embassies and consulates across the world have historically owned residential houses and properties meant to serve as accommodation for diplomats and offices to reduce long-term rental costs. Under Mutharika’s watch, these properties became prey for private enrichment.
One of the few remaining Malawi’s properties abroad situated on the Embassy Row, Northwest Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, D.C. USA
According to senior diplomatic sources, Mutharika and his inner circle pressured embassy officials to dispose of prime real estate in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Kenya. In many cases, the houses were sold far below their market value, with proceeds unaccounted for.
One of the most glaring cases was in South Africa, where the Malawi government, under Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda, had invested in houses in Rivonia, Johannesburg.
Dr. Banda acquired these properties not only for rental income but also as a historical tribute to his African National Congress (ANC) comrades who were arrested in Rivonia during the apartheid struggle.
Today, those houses are gone, sold cheaply to individuals linked to the Mutharikas.
On 24 May 2022, Radio France Internationale (RFI) published an exposé quoting Malawi’s Attorney General, Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda, who confirmed that over 20 state-owned houses had been unlawfully disposed of during Mutharika’s presidency.
“These assets that were disposed of include houses, and I know these properties. Embassy houses were sold without following laid-down disposal of public assets procedures. Worse still, the money cannot be accounted for,” Nyirenda told RFI.
He added that similar concerns had emerged around embassy properties in Kenya and Canada.
“When you’re making such decisions, it has to be in the best interest of the country, but these were sold for selfish interests. It makes no economic sense. Instead of saving forex through ownership, Malawi is now spending forex on rentals,” said the Attorney General.
Nyirenda vowed to pursue recovery of stolen assets, confirming that files were with the Director of Public Prosecutions and that cases were being prepared.
Reports indicate that Gertrude, acting with the authority of her husband, was deeply involved in the property sales. Sources disclose that she used embassy staff as conduits to facilitate deals, often with buyers who included her son and old family friends.
One diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “Staff were bullied. We were told that instructions were coming from the First Lady herself. It was a well-coordinated operation that reduced Malawi’s embassy infrastructure abroad to private profit.”
Despite repeated calls for accountability, neither APM nor his wife Gertrude has publicly explained the whereabouts of the proceeds from the sales. For Malawians still struggling with high taxes and foreign exchange shortages, the silence is deafening.
The Attorney General in an interview assured that the cases are not buried yet.
One of the properties sold in Canada
One political scientist described the scandal as symptomatic of Malawi’s broader governance failures: “Our leaders, once they get into positions of power, treat state assets as personal property. It’s lawlessness and anarchism. The reason this continues is because nobody is ever brought to book.”
The embassy property scandal adds to a long list of controversies surrounding the Mutharikas. From unexplained millions found in APM’s bank accounts, to accusations of tax evasion and involvement in smuggling scandals.
Analysts say the unresolved theft of embassy properties is particularly damaging because it represents not just stolen money but the erasure of diplomatic legacies built over decades.
“Those houses in Rivonia were Kamuzu’s way of planting Malawi’s name in the anti-apartheid story. To have them stolen and sold off is a betrayal of history and of the Malawian people,” said historian Professor Thomas Mokwane from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.
As Malawi heads toward the elections in two weeks’ time, the Mutharikas are positioning themselves once again at the center of DPP politics and fighting for a come back into the corridors of power. Yet questions about their role in the embassy properties scandal remain unanswered such as: Who approved the sales? How much money was raised, and where did it go? What steps are being taken to recover the stolen assets?
Until the former first family addresses these questions, Malawians are left with the bitter reminder that public trust and national wealth were once again sacrificed for private greed.
