The State Department said that the banned officials “abused their public positions by accepting bribes and other articles of value from a private businessperson in exchange for awarding a government procurement contract for the Malawi Police Service”.

The United States has banned four former senior officials of the Malawi government from entering the North American country because of their involvement in significant corruption, the State Department said on Wednesday.

The officials designated include former police chief George Kainja, former solicitor general and secretary of justice Reyneck Matemba, former director of public procurement and disposal of assets John Suzi-Banda, and former police service attorney Mwabi Kaluba, the department said.

The four were designated by the State Department “as generally ineligible for entry into the United States, due to their involvement in significant corruption”.

They were cited as having “abused their public positions by accepting bribes and other articles of value” from a private business person in exchange for a government police contract.

Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement that “the United States stands with Malawians working towards a more just and prosperous nation by promoting accountability for corrupt officials, including advocating for transparency and integrity in government procurement processes.”

Matemba is also the immediate former head of the Malawi Anti-Corruption Bureau. He told the Reuters news agency that he was “still in Malawi and have never traveled outside the country since 2021. I am on bail, therefore I can’t travel because my passport is technically with the police.”

The ban also extends to the spouses of the ex-officials.

The former officials are also facing charges in Malawi after they were named on a list of more than 80 prominent Malawians accused by the anti-graft body of having corrupt dealings with a British businessman Zuneth Sattar.

All four and Sattar have denied any wrongdoing.

Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera has waged a crackdown on corruption in recent years. In January 2022, he dissolved the country’s entire Cabinet on charges of corruption against three serving ministers.

Later that year, Malawi’s Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested and charged the country’s Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima over graft allegations.

The group has been investigating public officers in Malawi over alleged plundering of state resources by influencing awarding of contracts through the country's public procurement system.

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, with nearly three-quarters of the population living on less than $2 a day. Though small in size, the country features in the top 10 in Africa in terms of population density.