Staff at the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Blantyre were left shaken on Monday after a dramatic scene involving Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Southern Region Governor, Charles Mchacha. According to eyewitnesses, Mchacha stormed into the bureau’s offices demanding to confront a specific investigator handling one of his cases.
Sources said the governor was ushered by an unsuspecting receptionist into an investigator’s office, only to be told the officer was not present. What followed was chaos. Witnesses said Mchacha shouted at ACB staff, accusing them of shielding the investigator. “I will deal with him! I will come again to show you the new Director General!” he reportedly yelled, sparking fear among staff. Some employees panicked and fled into toilets, with women mistakenly rushing into the men’s facilities in the scramble.
One officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the governor openly threatened to return once he was back “in power” to settle scores with the investigator. Mchacha, who has previously been arrested on suspicion of possessing property suspected to have been obtained corruptly, is still facing legal scrutiny.
The incident has raised concern that Malawi may be sliding back into an era of impunity, where powerful politicians intimidate institutions tasked with fighting corruption. Observers warn that such behaviour undermines the rule of law and signals a dangerous repeat of past patterns in which accountability institutions were weakened through political interference.
