By Deogratias Mmana:
Details have emerged that the African Development Bank (AfDB) waited for an official letter from the Ministry of Tourism requesting an extension of the tourism project which the bank has been financing.
This runs contrary to the argument by Secretary for Ministry of Tourism, Chauncy Simwaka, that the project had actually ended.
In our story last week, we reported how the ministry is at risk of losing over K900 million meant for completion of activities of a tourism project which the AfDB has been funding
We reported that the loss would result from the fact that the ministry did not write a letter requesting the AfDB for an extension of the project.
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Simwaka told us that the project had been completed.
But new details we have seen support earlier information that the project has not been completed.
The AfDB has actually been waiting for the ministry’s official letter requesting for the extension of the project, Promotion of Investments and Cooperatives in the Tourism (Picts).
Last week, Simwaka and the project coordinator, Herbert Chihana, differed on the implementation of the project.
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While Chihana insisted in an interview that $929,114.68 (K930 million) was at stake due to his ministry’s failure to write the letter requesting the extension, Simwaka said the project had come to an end, meaning that there was no need for the letter to the AfDB.
But fresh information shows that the AfDB had been made aware of the need for the extension and it has been waiting for official communication from the ministry.
We have seen correspondence between Chihana and AfDB’s chief governance officer, Evelynne Change dated March 27, 2023.
In the communication, Chihana gives details of the remaining project works to justify the need to use $929,114.
He assures Change that the ministry’s official letter, signed by the controlling officer, would follow his communication.
According to the communication, the remaining activities on the project include installation of equipment at Mzuzu MIT [Malawi Institute of Tourism] Lodge which is said to be at 85 percent level and review, approval and signing of contracts and delivery of items for the Mzuzu MIT Lodge, Lake Malawi National Park and Kasungu National.
The communication also said as the contract implementation for the review of the tourism law was ending in April 2023, there was a need for more time for consultations and sensitisation with relevant stakeholders including the Parliamentary Committee on Tourism before the revised legal framework is tabled in Parliament.
The closure date of the project was June 30, 2023 but there were still outstanding activities, hence the need for an extension by five months which would enable the utilisation of remaining AfDB funds amounting to $929,114.68.
Chihana assured the AfDB of an official letter, signed by the Controlling Officer, requesting the extension would follow.
The bank, through Change, responded on March 29, 2023, saying it was looking forward “to receiving the formal request letter in this regard.”
In an interview last week, Chihana said the bank made payments for contractual commitments up to September, 2023.
He also confirmed that the ministry did not write the official letter to the bank.
According to him, in the absence of that letter, the government has to find about K1 billion to finalise the remaining project works or it will turn into a white elephant.
We asked the controlling officer, Simwaka, last week why the ministry did not provide the official letter to the bank.
He told us that the project had been completed.
Simwaka has since written The Times Group demanding a retraction of the story arguing that it had wrong facts.
But in his demand letter, he has not spelt out the wrong facts.
