By Cathy Maulidi:
There seems to be no end in sight to the controversy surrounding the motorcycle supply contract that the Ministry of Health withdrew from Farmers Engineering Services (FES).
The 56 motorcycles were supposed to come from the $7 million (K7.2 billion) Malawi Covid Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project funded by the World Bank.
However, in a letter dated September 18 2023, the ministry indicated that it had cancelled the deal due to delivery delays.
Now, information that we have gathered shows that FES has appealed the decision to the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA).
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The firm’s commercial manager James Khoromana argued that the authorities took a long time to award the contract and that the delay affected the company since prices had also risen by the time of award.
“The tender was advertised on January 30 and the contract was awarded in June. By this time, prices had changed.
“Even the delivery time we indicated at the time is not what the case is now. When bidding, you also check with the manufacturers so that when you sign the agreement with them, you are sure of the price you will pay for the items,” Khoromana said.
He added that during a meeting with government authorities after the contract had been awarded, both parties agreed that FES should give the ministry a schedule of how they would deliver the contract.
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Khoromana claimed that after that, the firm never heard from government until the contract was cancelled.
“They never told us that they wanted to cancel the contract. They never invited us to a meeting to say they were not happy with the dates we gave them.
“They did not even call to give us their alternative dates, because if they were unhappy, they should have called us to a meeting,” he said.
Meanwhile, unhappy with the developments around the contract, some bidders stormed the Ministry of Health offices to demand answers on how it was being handled.
The ministry’s procurement specialist Andrew Mopiha confirmed the development but indicated the ministry could not accommodate them because they just “gate-crashed” into another meeting.
“They gate-crashed into a debrief meeting with one client. Our procedures allow debriefs to be done on individual basis as we discuss issues pertaining to their specific bid,” Mopiha said.
He added that the ministry is working on arranging another meeting with the bidders.
“However, we are not sure when we can do it since they have also appealed to PPDA; so we are working with PPDA and after we get to an agreement with PPDA, we will see if and when we can have a group meeting or proceed with individual briefings,” Mopiha said.
In the letter of cancellation signed by Public Health Institute of Malawi acting director Mathews Kagoli, the ministry said FES planned to deliver the contract four months after the ministry’s latest time.
It further highlighted that the project was an emergency one and that issues of time were important.
“In view of the ongoing, we withdraw our Notice of Award of Contract to Supply and Deliver Motorcycles under Contract Number MW-CHSU-2322798-GO-RFB,” the letter said.
