President suspends electoral comission

President Bingu wa Mutharika has suspended the electoral commission due to an an audit report which said that nine million dollars in election funding were missing. The commission has nine members. According to the audit there were no supporting documents for the whereabouts of the nine million dollars (6.8 million euros). The money was meant to prepare for municipal elections in April 2011.

Therefore, the President suspended the commission in order to allow for investigations to be carried out without interference, Bright Msaka, chief secretary to the government, said. The commission is headed by Anastazia Msosa, a judge on Malawi's supreme court of appeal.

The local polls in April 2011 will be the second since the introduction of multi-party system in 1994. Malawi has postponed the polls on several occasions, including in 2005 when it cited a famine that threatened half the country's 12 million people. (Africa News/SADOCC)