Govt did not respond to buy Air Malawi—Mpatsa
Ndege Consortium did not receive any response from government for a bid to buy Air Malawi at US$12 million, Jimmy Korea Mpatsa, a local tycoon touted for having resuscitated national flag carrier, has said
“We made an offer to government and that came from a situation where I had been chairman of Air Malawi. We had turned round fortunes of the airline,” said the Mpatsa on the Straight Talk programme aired on Capital Radio on Thursday.
He was asked by presenter Brian Banda on what had happened to the bid.
“At the time I was appointed to be chairman of Board of Air Malawi, the company registered loss in a region of K1 billion in that particular year.
“By the following year we had turned its fortunes and it had registered a profit of K130 million,” Mpatsa said. By the time I left office we were on a track of making a profit of K500 or K800 million,” he said sounding with exuberance.
Korea–Mpatsa said he only learned in the media that government was “desirous to liquidate Air Malawi” and he stepped in to offer to buy the airline.
“I saw the positive side of the airline. I saw it, that this is the airline that could provide jobs, that could also be extremely profitable,” he said.
“We made an offer to government up to the present moment we have not received a response. We made an offer US$12 million. But sad to say government has not come back to us,” said the Blantyre-based business tycoon.
“The airline, by the time I was leaving office when my term of office came to an end, was registering profits. The only difficulties it had was it had accumulated a lot of debt from losses it had made in a number of years.
“I still think it may be operating profitably at the moment except that this debt that has was accumulated is proving difficult.”
According to Air Malawi chief executive Wisdom Mchungula, the company’s debts stood at K4.1 billion.
Meanwhile, published reports indicate that on March 25 the Commercial Court in Blantyre will hear the case in which a Moroccan company, which overhauled an engine for Air Malawi 737 500 in 2007, has filed the Notice of Petition for the winding up of the airline over an unpaid debt of over K500 million for the services.
However, Secretary to the Treasury Joseph Mwanamvekha has assured that Air Malawi will still be there.
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