By Deogratias Mmana:
Principal Secretary for Natural Resources and Climate Change Yusuf Mkungula has reported the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources to the Speaker of Parliament Catherine Gotani Hara for summoning him to what he calls a kangaroo meeting.
He alleges that, during the meeting, the committee interfered with administrative issues of the ministry and threatened to fight him for not bowing down to its demands.
The committee allegedly demanded that the PS withdraw an interdiction of Forestry former director Stella Gama, with Mkungula reportedly challenging the committee that it does not have a mandate over administrative matters.
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The committee is also alleged to have queried the ministry for embarking on a mapping exercise on the concession area for Raiply, which has always been reported to be 20,000 hectares.
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The committee also wanted to know why some individuals are cutting down trees in Viphya plantations.
Mkungula has reported the committee to the Speaker through a letter dated November 23 2023, which is headlined ‘Lodging a Complaint on The Conduct of the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Climate Change on Administrative Issues of The Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change’.
In the letter, Nkungula says at the meeting, which was held on Thursday last week, there were less than 10 members of the committee, further indicating that committee chairperson Werani Chilenga made a verbal invitation.
“The committee bullied and gagged me and it seemed to me that they are serving the interest of someone. They reached a point of telling me to withdraw Ms. Gama’s interdiction as if I have that mandate and requested me to provide evidence that shows that Ms. Gama is in the wrong and evidence that also shows that Raiply has more hectarage than what is in the concession agreement,” Mkungula says in the letter.
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Mkungula says the committee insinuated that he is being used by politicians and that he would be dumped very soon because he did not subscribe to their request.
“They threatened me that they can fight me and even make me lose my position because they are politicians and [that] they have nothing to lose,” the letter reads.
On the setup of the meeting, Mkungula says: “When a controlling officer is appearing before the committee, one expects to face all the members of the entire committee, at a maximum 21 members, but on this particular day I appeared before less than 10 members of the committee including the chairperson. I believe this was deliberately planned to prevent divergent views and that it was a setup because they had their own interests.”
The principal secretary then faults the committee for overstepping its mandate.
“I believe the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Climate Change is overstepping their mandate and that they are interfering in the affairs of the ministry,” Mkungula says.
He says he was not comfortable to meet the committee at another meeting on November 24 2023 “because, according to my understanding, they are compromised.”
Gama’s interdiction
The Office of the President and Cabinet interdicted Forestry former director Gama on four grounds.
According to the interdiction letter signed by the Secretary to the President and Cabinet Colleen Zamba, dated October 31 2023, Gama failed to correct a Raiply concession in Viphya Plantations which is on paper given 20,000 hectares while on the ground it is showing 28,550.30 hectares, leading to government loss of revenue of over K300 million annually.
The letter also says Gama received two salaries going to two different accounts bearing Ms. Stella Gama and Ms. Stella Funsani, respectively, with two different corresponding employment numbers.
The letter further says in 2019, Gama allegedly awarded a contract to people in Lusangazi Plantations to harvest blue gum trees, which was not in line with government procedures, thus she is accused of abusing office.
She is also accused of failing to correct the concession anomaly on Raiply, which was given a concession addendum to the existing Viphya Plantation concession on two forest plantations namely Chigumula Plantations in Blantyre and Zomba Mountain Plantations which were supposed to be stand-alone concessions with their own loyalty fees. This is another manifestation of abuse of office according to the letter.
“While on interdiction, you shall cease to exercise any powers and functions in the Civil Service and you shall not leave Malawi without written permission from this office.
“Please note that the interdiction order shall remain in force until you are cleared of the charges levelled against you or a decision is reached by the government on your case,” Zamba says in the letter.
In an interview Sunday, Mkungula confirmed being roasted at the meeting and writing a complaint letter to the Speaker.
“It was a bad meeting. Tempers flared because I was hitting back. And they said I should go there again on Friday. I did not,” Mkungula said, adding that he is well versed with climate change management issues because his doctorate focused on the same.
He said he could not comment on Gama’s interdiction because the matter is still under investigation.
Chilenga also confirmed being at the meeting but was quick to add that it was not true that the committee demanded the withdrawal of Gama’s interdiction letter, saying the committee does not have such a mandate.
He added that he made a verbal invitation as it was an emergency meeting.
But Chilenga said the committee faulted Mkungula for allegedly feeding the SPC with wrong information about the hectarage of Raiply, which, he said, led to the interdiction of Gama.
“All issues centred on one thing, that Raiply has an extra 8,000 hectares. We wanted the PS to give us evidence. He gave the SPC wrong information and we have evidence,” Chilenga said.
