Police in Mangochi District have arrested two Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi (SFFRFM) employees who were working as sales clerks at Makawa Depot and three suspected middlemen on allegations that they were soliciting bribes from Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) beneficiaries.
Mangochi Police Station spokesperson Amina Daudi said the arrests were made over the weekend in connection with complaints which some beneficiaries lodged with the police.
Daud identified the suspects as 29-year-old John Kamwana, 26-year-old Yafeti Mwale, 60-year-old Eunice Moyo, 52-year-old Idrissah Richard and 39-year-old Hassan Mzenda.
“Some AIP beneficiaries tipped law enforcers that the clerks, with the help of the said middlemen, were demanding K20,000 on top of the K10,000 which the government set as the official price of a [50-kilogramme] bag of fertiliser under the AIP.
“Acting on the information, a team of police officers rushed to the depot and arrested the suspects after they were found in possession of K1.1 million, which is believed to have been fraudulently obtained from 55 beneficiaries,” Daudi said.
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“The suspects are currently in police custody and will appear before court to answer charges of abuse of office and fraud other than false pretence once the necessary paperwork is completed,” she added.
Meanwhile, police in the district have implored earmarked AIP beneficiaries not to be paying extra money beyond the officially prescribed prices under government programmes.
Kamwana comes from Kadyalunda Village, Traditional Authority (TA) Sawali, in Balaka District; Mwale comes from Kaipa Village, TA Msanama, in Machinga District, while the alleged three middlepersons— Eunice Moyo, Idrissah Richard and Hassan Mzenda— come from Mkali Village, TA Mponda, in Mangochi District.
