Over 15 unsuspecting citizens in Thyolo claim to have been duped out of a minimum of K200,000 each by a prison warder at Bvumbwe Young Offenders Rehabilitation Center under the promise of a job in the service. The accused, Damiano Yobe, denied the accusation, saying it is news to him.

Some victims insist that Yobe solicited money, up to a maximum of K800,000, promising that their relatives would be recruited at Mapanga Training College as prison warders in the recent recruitment drive.

The concerned individuals allege that Yobe claimed to be working with a senior prison officer at the prison headquarters on the arrangement, but this did not materialize until the warders’ cohort passed out.

They say efforts to push the suspect on the matter have reportedly led to him changing the goalposts, either on the warders' recruitment or the money refund.

 “Prison warder, Damiano Yobe, was moving around coercing people, claiming he was working with a senior official at the prison headquarters to help them be recruited at Mapanga Training College as prison warders. He said we should give him K200,000 for each person.

I gave him about K500,000 for some relatives. But surprisingly, we just saw people training at the college, and when we inquired, he said we would be considered in the second selection, but it didn’t work. We also have reports that others gave him a maximum of K800,000,” one victim alleged.

Another victim added, “What saddened us was that people were recruited but without our names. This is after we had given him the money. When we asked him, he told us to wait for the additional list of names for the intake.”

Meanwhile, national prison spokesperson Steve Meke said on Tuesday that they have yet to receive any official reports based on the allegation but have launched a comprehensive investigation to establish the truth of the matter.

 Meke urged all job seekers not to be fooled by fraudsters, as the Malawi Prisons Service does not use third parties in its recruitment process.