Castel Malawi offers free-beers to Minister to cover Mudi River pollution scandal

Castel Malawi has been embroiled in a scandal in which it  offering 10 crates of beer worth over half a million Kwacha every week  to governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)  so that government can cover the Mudi River pollution scandal.

The brewers, formerly Carlsberg Malawi Limited, has been sending 10 crates of beer  through Information and Technology Minister Henry Mussa, to help  cover up for the Mudi River pollution scandal.

“It has been about 10 weeks now, and every week Castel Malawi gives drinks worth about half a million kwacha,” said a source who provided  a Castel Malawi ‘donation card’.

As of now, the company has so far gave out bout MK5 million worth of drinks’ donations.

In February this year, Government of Malawi fined Castel Malawi MK1 million for being found in the wrong as regards discharging liquid waste into Mudi River.

Castel Malawi was caught discharging liquid waste into the environment and part of Mudi River in December 2018.

The senior brands manager at Castel, Titha Mbilizi when contacted on telephone declined to comment on the matter: “I cannot comment on that now.”

Blantyre City Council (BCC) officials said at the time that the impact of the waste on people was so huge and fatal saying the discharge of the liquid waste poses a great health threat as people use the river for numerous purposes, including drinking, washing and watering vegetables downstream.

With respect to waste management, the Environment Management Act spells out that before emptying anything that could come in contact with natural water, companies or industries should purify the liquid waste by removing all chemicals or anything that can disturb water quality.

By law, industrial companies in Blantyre (and indeed all other cities in the country) are legally compelled to advise the council before disposing any waste to find the way forward as the council has a holding facility that assists in such instances

In August last year, the Competition and Fair Trading Commission (CFTC) also fined Castel K35.4 million for supplying the market with “products likely to cause harm to consumers” and K500 000 for supplying products containing foreign objects.

In November 2014, the Department of Environmental Affairs also cracked its whip on Sun Seed Oil Company Limited in Lilongwe and its sister firm, Central Poultry Farm, for endangering communities.

Both companies were ordered to halt operations and fined K1 million each following revelations that the cooking oil company was discharging and emitting pollutants into the environment.

In August 2018, Nyasa Times learnt that Central Poultry Limited (Dudu Farm) in Area 36 in Lilongwe was discharging waste from at least 10 000 chickens that were being slaughtered and processed every day.

Castel Malawi LTD is the leading producer and distributor of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages in Malawi. For 50 years, the Castel Malawi LTD has supplied the Malawi market with global brands such as Carlsberg beer, Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite.

It is also well known for Malawi Gin and Sobo Squash. Castel Malawi is owned by the Castel Group, a French beverages company which was founded in 1949, by Pierre Castel.

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