Officials from Lilongwe district council have refused some people to protest in Lilongwe has instead advised them to seek mediation instead with the ministry of Agriculture.
Lilongwe District Commissioner Lawford Palani has told a group calling itself Mbadwa Zokhudzidwa to postpone their planned demonstrations against Ministry of Agriculture over alleged irregularities pertaining to a fertiliser supply contract.
Lawford Palani
The demonstrations are scheduled for Friday this week.
A notification from the group to Lilongwe district commissioner alleges that the Ministry of Agriculture did not follow procedure in awarding fertiliser contracts hence the planned demonstrations.
But a response from the DC to the group dated October 11, 2022 gave some recommendations to the group advising them to explore alternatives before they can go ahead with the demonstrations.
The group has been asked to engage with the Ministry of Agriculture and other concerned parties so that they exhaust the procedure of contact and dialogue. They have also been asked for clarification on the salient issues that they wish to be addressed by the authorities.
The DC’s response further recommends: “Using the whistleblowing strategy by giving the Anti-Corruption Bureau necessary information that it can analyse in order to kick-start investigations into the matter raised.”
