Mulli left out, 23 companies win tenders in Malawi’s Farm Input Subsidy Programme
About 23 companies have won tenders to supply fertilisers in the 2013 and 2014 fertiliser subsidy programme and conspicuously missing from the list is business conglomerates, the Mulli Brothers Holdings Limited , which was believed to had close links with the late president Bingu wa Mutharika .
Ministry of Agriculture Internal Procurement Committee chaired by Principal Secretary Jeffrey Luhanga on August 12, 2013 recommended about 23 companies to supply both Urea and NPK fertilisers to Chirimba in Blantyre, Kanengo in Lilongwe and Luwinga in Mzuzu.
According to the ministry”s IPC minutes, the companies to supply 34 395 metric tonnes of Urea to Chirimba at a total cost of K8.4 billion include Zambia Fertiliser, Chagunyuka General Dealers, Kulima Gold, Transglobe Produce, Farmers World, Skyview, Nyiombo and ETG.
Others are Malawi Fertiliser, Nasfam, Exagris, Agora, Lords, SFFRFM, Sealand, Saba, Midima, WL Trading, Shire, Hardware Shopping, Green Fields, Krish and Door to Door.
The same companies leaving out Midima, WL Trading, Shire, Hardware Shopping, Green Fields, Krish and Door to Door have been recommended to supply a total of 30 915 metric tonnes of Urea to Kanengo at K7.6 billion.
Two new companies in this lot are Alda and Good Investments.
Zambia Fertiliser, Chagunyuka General Dealers, Nyiombo, Farmers World, Nasfam and Exagris will also supply the 9 690 metric tonnes of Urea to Luwinga at a cost of K2.3 billion.
Government rejected 32 percent of bidders because they submitted dubious bid bond securities for the K60 billion for this year”s FISP.
Last year, 29 suppliers were awarded fertiliser contracts, while 43 transporters won bids to move the commodities to various selling points across Malawi.
Nyiombo was named the leading and successful player in terms of preparedness for the 2012/13 FISP programme.
Government departments were advised not to conduct any business with Mulli until criminal and tax investigations have been finalized.
A letter by Minister of Justice Ralph Kasambara addressed to Principal Secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security Dr Jeffrey Luhanga said “overwhelming evidence has been unearthed supporting charges of corruption, money laundering and tax evasion. Any government business extended to them now might easily compromise money laundering investigations and tax implications.”
The letter copied to the Office of the Director of Public Procurement (ODPP) with specific attention to director Dye Mawindo and the Office of the Vice-President for the attention of incumbent Khumbo Kachali said: “The Malawi Revenue Authority [MRA], Financial Intelligence Unit [FIU] and the Malawi Police Service [MPS] are all involved in these investigations.”
Fisp donors include UK, Norway, Ireland, the European Union and the World Bank.
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