Malawi officials blamed for food crisis

Thousands are said to have died in Malawi's famine

Senior government officials in Malawi may face prosecution following allegations that they sold grain reserves despite warnings of an imminent food crisis.

The country's Anti-Corruption Bureau said Malawi had 166,000 tonnes of maize reserves after a bumper season in 2000, but the government then sold its entire strategic maize reserves in 2000/2001.

It is now estimated that at least three million of Malawi's 11 million people may starve this year.

The Bureau has accused some officials in the state-run Agriculture Development and Marketing Board and the National Food Reserve Authority of criminal recklessness.

Blame game

The director of public prosecutions said he has seen a report detailing the allegations and prosecutions could follow.

The government has blamed the sale on wrong advice from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The IMF denies it gave the wrong advice, claiming the government made a poor policy decision after ignoring an expert study funded by the European Union.

Most of the maize was bought by senior politicians, some of whom allegedly never paid for it.

Thousands starve

The country is reeling under an acute food shortage that aid agencies blame on drought, flooding, rural poverty, the ravages of HIV/AIDS, and political mismanagement.

The government says about 500 people starved to death when the food crisis reached its peak between January and March but churches and civil rights groups say the figure could well be in the thousands.

A local politician said that rampaging elephants were also to blame for shortages in Malawi.

Over 1,000 hectares of winter crops in the southern district of Machinga were destroyed by elephants which strayed from the nearby Liwonde National Park.

Elephants had apparently destroyed fields of maize, sweet potatoes, cassava and beans.