HRDC reports  K7.8 billion corruption case involving Mutharika step-son Tadikila  

Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has reported Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (PPDA) executive director Elias Hausi and son to former first lady Tadikila Mabfuza to the office of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) following the role the two played over the Kammwamba power plant producing company.

In their later dated 17th August 2020, signed chairperson Gift Trapence, HRDC says Hausi was quoted backing the transaction that the company existed in USA but investigations revealed that it never existed in America nor at his own enforcement body PPDA which when a company is not registered with them it’s not supposed to be offered any contract.

“We have received information that in 2013 Malawi And Genhbouba Group of China Engineering Corporation signed a Memorandum of understanding for the construction of 1000 mega power plant and that the plant was to use 400,000 tonnes of coal annually from Moatize in Mozambique,” reads the letter.

As part of their whistleblower initiative, HRDC has asked ACB to investigate whether the Black and Veach, a company allegedly belonging to a  step son of former president Mutharika, was paid MK7.8 billion for a contract awarded to provide technical support, supervision and management of Kammwamba coal fired power generation plant project.

The HRDC has appealed to the ACB to commence the investigations.

HRDC says it is alleged that the initial plan of the power project was to start with the construction of a 300 megawatts thermal plant comprising six units of 50 MW each with funds borrowed from China’s Export and Import bank.

The HRDC says while the second phase involved building of a 700 MW thermal plant, the project was expected to start in 2016 , but was delayed due to lack of feasibility study, and lack of a power purchase agreement , and this made the project to be scaled down to 300 MW .

It says this was allegedly made because the financiers reduced the loan around from US$700 million to US$ 500 million, saying the then Minister of Finance, Goodall Gondwe was quoted in the Nation newspaper of 26th December, 2018 as saying that the project would start in the first quarter of the 2019.

“It is alleged that the Malawi Government then abandoned its partner, Genzhhouba of China and become the sole financier of the project,’’ reads part of the letter to the ACB.

Government awarded a MK 7.8 billion contract to a company, Black and Veach of which the Nation newspaper of 27th October, 2019 quoted Hausi, Director of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority as saying: “Our records indicate that the company is registered in the USA.”

The HRDC says their investigation shows that the Black and Veach do not appear on the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authorities website and it is registered with it.

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