President Banda Dismisses Entire Cabinet Over Corruption

President Joyce Banda dissolved her cabinet on Thursday in the wake of the arrests of several officials in recent weeks on suspicion of stealing state funds. The government was forced to shut down its payment system last week so that it could investigate reports that more than $4 million was missing. The police said that about 10 government officials had been arrested so far on graft charges, and that tens of thousands of dollars in cash had been recovered from the officials� cars and homes. Last week, envoys from eight Western nations, whose aid has accounted for about 40 percent of the state budget, asked Ms. Banda to find ways to reduce corruption, which poses a risk to �Malawi�s stability, rule of law and reputation.�