Attorney General (AG) Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda has disclosed that a total of 516,000 Euros (about K635 million) out of the K750 million that was paid to a butchery for fertiliser under the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) has finally been remitted to Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi (SFFRFM)’s account.
According to a letter that the Munich prosecutor’s office in Germany has written to the AG, 516,000 Euros were paid into a Fidor Bank AG account.
Chakaka Nyirenda, who is currently in Germany, said it is true that the funds have been deposited into an account.
“The Munich prosecutor’s office facilitated the transfer of the recovered funds from the bank to Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi’s account,” he said.
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He said the funds are expected to be reflected in SFFRFM’s account in two days [one day from today].
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This comes after the High Administrative Court of Bavaria in Munich issued a confiscation order for the misappropriated amount to be returned to Malawi.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Defenders Coalition Chairperson Gift Trapence has said this should serve as a big accountability lesson to the government.
“We need the government to be committed to adhering to protocols. Malawians want value for their taxes. This should not only be a lesson but those suspected of flouting procedures should be held accountable by facing the law,” Trapence said.
In November last year, Chakaka Nyirenda applied to the court in Germany, asking it to facilitate the repatriation of $543,000 that was allegedly frozen in that country.
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This was part of the money that a United Kingdom (UK)- based fertiliser supplier, identified as Barkaat Foods Limited, failed to supply for about 25,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser, to which the government had already committed K750 million.
Nyirenda assured the nation that the money would be fully recovered after his office also recovered $182,000 that was deposited into an account of Bova Investment Corporation which is based in New Jersey, United States of America.
Our investigations found that Caroline Muthusamy was facilitating the fertiliser deal for Barkaat Foods Limited and Food Line Wholesale Limited.
Our investigations into the accounts of Barkaat Foods Limited also showed that the company had capital and reserves of only about £33,000 [about K35 million] and lacked the financial capacity to undertake such a huge procurement assignment.
The Malawi High Commission in the UK said they were not engaged to undertake due diligence before the agreement between SFFRFM, representing the Government of Malawi, and the two companies (Barkaat Foods Limited and Food Line Wholesales Limited) was signed in May 2022.
