Credit:  /  nyasatimes.com /  Malawi President Peter Mutharika’s adviser on Parliamentary affairs Uladi Basikolo Mussa

DIPLOMATIC TIMES STAFF

Malawi President Peter Mutharika’s adviser on Parliamentary affairs Uladi Basikolo Mussa has been banned from entering the United States over alleged corruption, the U.S. State Department announced Wednesday.

“The Secretary of State is publicly designating Mr. Uladi Basikolo Mussa, the current Malawian Special Advisor on Parliamentary Affairs and former Malawian Minister of Home Affairs, due to his involvement in significant corruption. Mr. Mussa engaged in and benefited from public corruption in relation to his official duties while Minister of Home Affairs.”

-U.S. Department of State

This designation is made under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Act of 2019. Section 7031(c) provides that, in cases where the Secretary of State has credible information that foreign officials have been involved in significant corruption or gross violations of human rights, those individuals and their immediate family members are ineligible for entry into the United States.

Mussa’s Wife Also Barred From Entry into United States

The law also requires the Secretary of State to publicly or privately designate such officials and their family members. In addition to the designation of Mussa, the Secretary is also publicly designating Mussa’s spouse, Cecillia Mussa, according the the State Department.

 Mussa Wednesday Described the Ban as Unfair, Declaring That He Is Innocent

 “It is unfair. The US Government has constituted the ban based on a matter that is in court. According to the laws of Malawi, anyone is innocent until proven guilty by a competent court of law. I am not corrupt. I am still innocent. I believe in myself. I did a noble job as a minister. Even in American laws, anyone who has not been found guilty remains innocent, and I have no intention of going to America,”

-Mussa said, as reported by times.mw

Mussa and four others, including former Immigration Department chief citizenship officer David Kwanjana, are answering the charge of allegedly fraudulently issuing citizenships and passports to Burundians and Rwandans, among other foreign nationals, according to times.mw.