MBC and Malawi State house quash the Ben Phiri resignation hoax

Ben Phiri
was making rounds on Zodiak radio and other media outlets yesterday claiming he
had resigned as personal assistant to Malawi President Peter Mutharika
effective June 1^st, 2015. MBC radio however very quickly denied the
story and confidently announced that Ben Phiri had not resigned.

MBC is a
government owned station, both radio and TV and thus many people started to
believe that Ben Phiri was playing the Media in a scheme of high stakes known only
to him and the President of Malawi Peter Mutharika.

When
Maravi Post reached out to State House Press Secretary Gerald Viola, he
curiously said he did not have details of the resignation. Later in the day he
basically said Ben Phiri had not resigned.

Many
observers now believe Ben Phiri who has been in the news lately might have been
playing a joke to get back at his critics and show that he has not lost the
confidence of the one person who counts, President Peter Mutharika.

Phiri, who
has been the President’s aide since 2007, said in the interview that now
appears to have been some kind of setup that two issues have prompted him to
call it quits. The first being corruption allegations and secondly, suggestions
that he was manipulating and influencing President Peter Mutharika.

He said some
critics were equating him to a prime minister who called the shots from behind
the scenes.

Phiri said
on Tuesday that he has resigned to pave way for investigations into
multi-billion kwacha assets that he is widely believed to own.   MBC and Malawi State house quash the Ben Phiri resignation hoax: MBC and Malawi State house quash the Ben Phiri resignation hoax