By Cathy Maulidi:
Following uncertainties surrounding the East Bridge fertiliser deal and revelations that Malawi might lose up to K273 billion should it terminate the deal, the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament (Pac) has disclosed that it is summoning Ministry of Finance and Agriculture officials to shed light on the issues.
Chairperson for the committee Mark Botomani told The Daily Times that the committee is concerned with what is going on and wants to get answers from those involved.
On Saturday, our sister paper Malawi News reported that Finance Minister Sosten Gwengwe has withdrawn the sovereign guarantees he granted to East Bridge.
However, the Romania-based company says it has, so far, spent about K273 billion on implementing the deal.
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Its officials say they would want to have their money back should the government terminate the contract.
“We have been observing things and, at this point, we feel that public funds are at risk and we, as a committee, have decided to come in.
“We have made consultations, including consulting the secretariat, on how best to go about it. We have reached a consensus and are writing the Minister of Finance and Agriculture to give us more details on what is happening on the issue,” Botomani said.
He said committee members would also summon other stakeholders involved in the deal to hear their side of the story.
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“We have heard that, on the issue of procurement, they bypassed the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority and the Anti-Corruption Bureau. We want to establish the truth about this,” he said.
Government has already informed the International Monetary Fund that it is going to cancel the deal with East Bridge following the advice it received from Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda.
However, Agriculture Committee of Parliament Chairperson Sameer Suleman said Malawians should have nothing to do with the deal, save for the officials that were responsible for signing it.
“They failed to guard the country’s resources,” Suleman said.
