President Bingu wa Mutharika will face eleven grounds once a motion to indict and impeach him comes up in the House and Mangochi Malombe MP Maxwell Milanzi confirmed on Tuesday he has already filed a notice of motion with Clerk of Parliament Roosevelt Gondwe.

“I am only waiting for time,” said Milanzi in an interview. “We agreed to prioritise business already started under the late Speaker. Towards the end of this week, I should be able to know when exactly the issue will come up.” In his notice of motion, Milanzi asks the House to resolve that Mutharika be indicted. This will involve summoning Mutharika to appear before the House where each ground will be read to him, and upon showing that he understands them, he will be asked to leave the chamber, and then be committed for trial on impeachment.

“I am an agent of the people who are saying the President should be impeached,” said Milanzi. “They have not told me to withdraw the motion, so I will proceed with it once I am given the time.” The first ground is that Mutharika, in contravention of his oath to defend the Constitution of the Republic, unlawfully secured use of public funds to promote interests or affairs of a political party. The second ground is that he caused government to pay tuition and living expenses of his grand children who are pursuing academic studies at Mount Sinai International School in Lilongwe.

The third ground is that the President unlawfully purchased a Mercedes Benz Maybach vehicle through an unauthorised expenditure and thereby occasioning a failure to sustain public trust in public institutions and a lack of financial probity. The fourth ground is that he maintains two state residences in Lilongwe, and yet the National Assembly was evicted and rendered homeless thereby making that institution not perform optimally or effectively. The fifth ground is that in his conduct while President of the Republic, Mutharika has failed to provide executive leadership through his constant interference in other political parties and using public funds to destabilise them.

The sixth ground is that the President terminated the appointment of Fahad Assani as Director of Public Prosecutions without complying with requirements of and the procedures laid down in the constitution. The seventh ground is that Mutharika terminated the appointment of Joseph Aironi as Inspector General of the Malawi Police Service without complying with constitutional requirements. The eighth ground is that he terminated the appointment of Joseph Chimbayo as Commander of the Malawi Defence Force without complying with the Constitution and the employment act.

The ninth ground is that Mutharika terminated the appointment of principal secretaries without complying with the requirement of the Constitution and procedures laid down by the Employment Act. The tenth ground is that President unlawfully created the post of Chief Secretary for Public Service contrary to the Constitution and the Public Service Act. The eleventh ground is that Mutharika violated section 12 (ii) of the Constitution by unceremoniously resigning from a political party that sponsored him during presidential elections and has thereby failed to sustain the trust of the people that put him into power.