Update: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) is reviewing a formal complaint alleging that Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairperson Steven Malondera and his committee members accepted a K65 million bribe, according to Nyasa Times and AfricaBrief. The complaint, filed on April 7 by human rights lawyer Alexious Kamangila, claims the funds were provided by Apostle Clifford Kawinga to influence the parliamentary inquiry into the K128.7 billion Amaryllis Hotel deal. Malondera has forcefully denied the allegations, submitting phone records and accusing Kamangila of attempting to manipulate the committee's findings to protect ACB Acting Director General Gabriel Gift Chembezi. The ACB has acknowledged receipt of the complaint and is currently determining its next course of action.
In separate news, security forces are on high alert in Mchinji District after construction workers unearthed four suspected explosive devices and an elephant ivory tusk at a former airstrip in the iNkosi Zulu area, Nyasa Times reports. Following the April 8 discovery, a specialised team from the National Police Headquarters Counter-Terrorism and Anti-Explosives Unit deployed to the scene and safely detonated one of the devices. The incident occurred just one day after an AK-47 rifle was found abandoned along the banks of the Ludzi River. Security experts warn that the back-to-back discoveries raise serious national security and wildlife trafficking issues near the Zambian and Mozambican borders.