What is now known as Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) is a symbol of resilience by former legal advisor to Malawi’s third president Bingu wa Mutharika. In a shocking revelation, Z Allan Ntata who served as Bingu’s legal advisor until his death in 2012, has exposed that after securing a loan from China for the Malawi Government, Bingu wanted to divert the money and build a private university in Thyolo.
Chronicling the sinister plot during an interview with Zodiak Tv’s Frank Joab Chakhaza, Ntata revealed that the government had secured an US$80 million loan from China on proposal to fund building of a new university in Malawi.
However, it was uncovered that the late president had ulterior motives to build a private university known as Bineth University on his private land in Thyolo. Bingu, who established Bingu and Ethel (Bineth) Trust in honour of his late first wife Ethel Mutharika wanted the university to be called Bineth University and built on his farmland in Thyolo district.
“I pleaded with him that this is inappropriate because the university is supposed to be a public university owing to the fact that it will be built by public money secured through public loan. It can’t therefore be under Bineth which is a private entity and it also can’t be built on private land”, said Ntata indicating that there was back and forth disagreement on the issue before Bingu finally conceded to the advice.
Nevertheless, despite objections from Ntata, who argued that a public university should not be built on private land, Bingu refused to be defeated entirely by going ahead to build the public university on his private farmland in Thyolo. He eventually sold the land to the Malawian government, but the transaction was marred by corruption, with huge sums of money allegedly paid to Bineth Trust as “compensation.”
The US$80 million loan currently adds to the country’s external debt which is currently standing at $4.13 billion (approximately K7.16 trillion) as per reports announced in July 2024. Bingu signed the US$80 million loan authorization Bill in November 2010 among many loans signed during his tenure.
