Malawi used $US15 million ($A16.74 million) raised from the sale of its presidential jet to clear debts to an arms group, not to partly buy food for the poor as President Joyce Banda claimed, the country's finance minister has admitted.
"Actually, no single kwacha came to Malawi," said Maxwell Mkwezalamba on Wednesday, confirming speculation that the central bank had not received the funds.
With her administration under a graft scandal cloud, Banda on Tuesday had declared: "It was me who said let's sell the jet and the cabinet agreed three things to benefit Malawi... to buy maize, buy military equipment such as patrol boats and pay for peacekeeping mission in the DRC," the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Some of the "money was also used to buy medicine and fertiliser which was loaned to farmers", she told reporters.
But Mkwezalamba said the funds were used to pay Malawi's debts after the jet was sold to a subsidiary of South African arms firm Paramount Group, Africa's largest private defence firm, on July 29 last year.
"The Malawi government owed Paramount Group $US19.2 million in respect of military equipment and asked the buyer of the jet to channel the money to the group as debt repayment after seeking legal advice from the attorney general."
It was agreed that the subsidiary that bought the jet, Bohnox Enterprises Limited of the Virgin Islands, instead pay Paramount "part of the arrears" owed.
Funds were then re-allocated to the Malawi defence force to buy the maize, medical drugs and military equipment.
Fears had been raised that the jet sale proceeds may have been embezzled.
