Malawian President Peter Mutharika has appointed a Commission of Inquiry to the procurement of 100 000 metric tonnes (MT) of maize from Zambia involving K26 billion.
Announcing the Commission, Chief Secretary to government, Lloyd Muhara, President Mutharika established the Inquiry in accordance with the Inquiries Act Section 2 (1) and the Constitution in Section 89 (1) (g).
Muhara said the inquiry will work on “matters surrounding the procurement of maize” by State-grain trader Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) from Zambia, Malawi’s western neighbour.
Retired chief justice Anastasia Msosa has been appointed to head the inquiry.
Other commissioners appointed include Isaac Kayira the public auditor, Dr Janet Banda the solicitor general and Mike Chinoko as secretary of the Commission.
The appointments are with effect from the 1st of January, 2017,” Muhara said in a statement made available to Nyasa Times on New Year’s Day.
According to Muhara, the Commission of Inquiry will start work “immediately.”
The Commission has been tasked to submit its report to the President by January 31, 2017.
The import deal – christened as ‘maizegate – has been subject of media frenzy in Malawi as leaked documents show that Admarc used a private Zambian company that may be more expensive than if the deal were government-to-government.
Admarc insists that it is buying the staple grain from Zambia Cooperative Federation (ZCF), a government agency.
According to figures seen in documents, Admarc has paid $34.5 million (about K26 billion) for the maize, which is $13 million (about K9.5 billion) more than the $21.5 million (about K15 billion) it could have paid had it bought the maize from Zambian Government.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) director General Lucas Kondowe has also disclosed that the bureau will work with the Anti-Corruption Commission of Zambia to analyse documents related to the deal to establish, if there was any, wrongdoing.
ACB has taken up the matter after members of Parliament (MPs) under the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, Irrigation and Food Security pushed bureau to launch an inquiry.
Meanwhile, Public Accounts Committee (Pac) of Parliament has urged President Mutharika to suspend Admarc Chief Executive Officer Foster Mulumbe and Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development George Chaponda to “create a conducive environment for investigations.”
PAC chairperson Alekeni Menyani said if the Commission of Inquiry and ACB work is to be credible, Mulumbe and Chaponda should be relieved of their duties.
“Here we have a whole Cabinet minister being implicated in the allegations, yet he still remains in his position. Here we have a whole CEO of Admarc being implicated yet still remains in his position,” said Menyani.
He said people implicated will do everything possible to defeat justice if they feel some underhand dealings in relation to the maize issue will be uncovered.
The procurement of the maize from Zambia was part of government’s response to the crisis.
Government borrowed $34 million (about K26 billion) from the PTA Bank for the purchase of the maize.
Corruption with impunity is everywhere in Africa it only prudent to as the top officials to step down if the inquiry is to make sense.
RB and The Kaizers will be in hot soup!!! Nkani yalula.
How did so much maize leave the country when we were told here that the maize deal was government to Government who are the shareholders in this Zambian company how did it manage to export so much when we had a ban on exports here without a heavy hand in government …..the problem with President Chapona is he may be involved or simply too complacent ….since his crazy corruption allegations not even one Minister has been suspended. Please note CK was dropped without any reason being forwarded so he is not counted
Catch them. Expose them.
…don’t worry. ZCF only used $4m and it will be paid back. I’m glad I didn’t participate in this one – phew!
Thanks
Who owns Admarc????
This must spill to Zambia.
Someone must explain how the reached that deal outside government.
And also what was the source of that maize, was it the subsidised FRA maize?
These are the people who are letting down the government and enriching themselves.
Just a few weeks ago some Bemba thief was complaining that ZCF had not paid him the money from the deal. He also mentioned a bank involved in this deal. So this is real. Money has been stolen from the Malawians. There is complicity alround.
Why do you say everywhere in Africa? It’s everywhere in the world but since you are trained to see only Africa negatively you think its where all the bad things happen
There is no honour among thieves. Our senior government officials are heavily involved in this scandal. Who authorised the transaction when PF was claiming that there was a ban on maize exports? We need a investigation into the same issue to establish how the maized exited Zambian borders
At least people including the Ruling Party cadres can now see what being serious against fighting corruption is…this is being demonstrated by the Malawian President, Zambia should have done the same when an opposition official raised this issue but we know that this rot goes all the way to State House and the Lazy Bum who will almost triple his net worth in 2017 even with half his salary.
ACC will not do any favours for the Malawian Investigative teams as they will simply hide the evidence and slow down the whole process like they have done with the Kambwili case.
Must we be oblivious to the reality that, it was because of her involvement in corruption that past Malawian President, Joyce Banda, was graciously shown the exit door at the ballot box by the gallant Malawians? Why must we now fail to applaud them for yet another job well done, for exerting pressure on His Excellence, the sitting President Peter Mutharika, to come to our rescue against these corrupt and scavenging PF hawks?
Serious people the Malawians! The issue was as good as forgotten once raised by an opposition member of parliament but the scenario is different in Malawi! Is it a question of Malawians being more aggressive on what is detrimental to national well being compared to Zambian docility? Anyway give it a thumbs up for Malawians are better educated on their national issues than Zambians!
Hello Lusaka Times! Suggestion time. It high time you closed the comment section to all unless through social member sites that show true identity of the bloggers. This would get rid of senseless cowards like Buck teeth lungu and all who insult other tribes with impunity. Its time it stopped. I for one don’t like like our president and not PF one bit. but hes our president. Two I also dont like UPND and GBM con and HH too. Hope time will come.
Thanks
This is how governments should work. Hope our Lost Lungu can see. Once there is an inquiry suspend those suspected to be involved pave way for truth. Our presido is a lost soul with no real hope for mother Zambia
Government-to-govrnment sounds familiar
Was government-to government oil, nigeria
Now government-to-government maize, malawi
nolstagia ecl is the new RB
yet the never allowed poor farmers to export maize?? eating double, from fertilizer deals, then buy maize cheap from people and sell it to malawians at huge profits?? what kind of leaders do we have??
Lungu will promote such a minister. As Lubinda he,s a done after stealing our maize cash
This thing will not leave PF, state House scotch free. Everything happened around elections campaigns. Why didn’t Edgar institute the commission as well? All those metric tonnes can’t be smuggled without ACC knowing a shhhit.
BBC reports that Zambia had much more maize than it needs in 2014/2015 season. But local sources have been giving the impression that the period was the worst ever zambia had experienced.
How can you have a bumper harvest and still be the third hungriest country in the world? By overpricing the maize so that poor people cannot afford it and then you export it under the pretext that there’s enough locally. PF are so callous and heartless to Zambians.
There is a possibility that just because 1 Indian did not get that same contract thàt is why he has told his Malawian partner to involve Malawian president .God save the poor from this Indian crook…
The Malawi commission is set up to get at the truth while the drunkard’s one is calculated to benefit the commissioners and nothing about the truth.
This Lazy Bum we have placed in State House is inept, unskilful, unskilled, inexpert, amateurish, unprofessional, lacking ability, bungling, blundering, clumsy, unproficient, inadequate, substandard, inferior, ineffective, deficient, inefficient, ineffectual, no good, not good enough, wanting, lacking, leaving much to be desired.
From the time I read the Savour Chishimba story over this maizegate scandal, the story was stinking of corruption, but as usual our corrupt Govt has defended the transaction while they burry evidence. Fortunately, Its a matter of time before they are made to pay for their sins.
Meanwhile they are there in church with their hands clasp and eyes closed commemorating 25 years of declaration of a Christian Nation (whatever that means) yet they are stealing like the Earth is ending tomorrow….you would get a higher honesty rating in a brothel than in Lazy Lungu’s govt.
One should simply ask themselves that if these PF crooks are able to steal from relief maize worth this amount…imagine how much they have been stealing at RDA where there are contracts worth up to $500m….you wonder why we pay $1 million per kilometer for laying tarmac.
Is not this corruption by PF?
Edgar Lungu and his corruption exposed!!! Bunch of thieves
Commission of inquiry whilst people are dying of hunger. Opposition are there for checks and balance, not to deprive the common man. Such opposition are useless
No issue here. The contact was honoured. The maize was delivered at agreed price. Si.milisi. Ya. Nyoko
Ask Henry Banda. Nothing wrong with a broker making some cash….a few connected guys had export quotas from FRA. most likely the company that got the Malawi contact banadya bwino. Lubinda alimo…..
How come we were not informed about such a mega deal and where did the money go?
@ Common Sense
A thief that has stolen everything from your house does not come back the next day to tell you that he has robbed you!
Why do you think Lungu and his PF have closed down the Post and Zambian Watchdog at HUGE expense to the taxpayers? Because they like spending our money? No. To hide their corruption and stolen election!
Have you just crawled from a rock that you missed 2016…I guess common sense is not so common!!
We need to give people like Saviour Chishimba more support and coverage. The man exposed this crooked deal but as usual it was covered up. Why are we still keeping quiet in the face the corruption and pollution?? We need to wake up….there is too much looting going on in this country.
I agree with you. Saviour is proving to be a very powerful counter to the government antics. He needs support. As for the maize scandal story he exposed, he should have continued with the rest of it inside of leaving it hanging.
Another stupid President appointing a commission of inquiry for what? He knows who was involved and the so called Anti corruption Bureau of Nyasaland is sleeping. This proffessor is warped. Arrest the culprits man!
Do you know what a Commission Of Inquiry is? A commission of inquiry is one of many bodies available to the government to inquire into various issues… report findings, give advice and make recommendations. Given the size of Malawi that figure there is a lot of money for them which our corrupt leaders misappropriate at will like.
Dis is serious case mwebantu,especially Zambia vry soon wil bcam de worst corrupt country on earth,if things wil continue lyk dis.
Some people in Malawi will end up in Dzaleka prison and in Zambia, ZCF who connived with a private company on pretence that it bought maize and later sold it to ADMAC Malawi will go scot free. Beneficiaries will be Lungu, RB and Kaizer Zulu – thieves.
THIEVES, THIEVES, THIEVES – PF ARE THIEVES.
The Senior Statesman across the border shows what “STUMPING OUT CORRUPTION MEANS.” Our Edgar Lungu pays mere lip service to the undertaking. Corruption is a cancer that is destroying and killing Africa. Our leaders must demonstrate the will to fight against it. Since this was a cross border transaction, let the Zambian leader emulate the step that has been undertaken by his Malawian counterpart. Flush out the corrupt elements out of PF, if at all you mean business in 2017.
We are now in the new year still waiting on ECL to fire the people he said were involved in corruption. All he does is talk, he never does anything substantive. He should even stop using the phrase ‘walk the talk’, because he definitely doesn’t walk his talk.
When we tell you that one Edgar Lungu is an utterly Lazy Incompetent Bum who is just a mere tool for corruption you think its a joke….in Zambia Politicians are getting suddenly richer but to date no one has been arrested. All the inept leader Lazy Lungu does is issue out empty warnings even though he knows who is stealing…simply look at the Kambwili case its now gathering dust in State House.
@Jay jay … can’t agree with you more. This scandal is definitely two way and yet the lazy rungu will not at any point raise eyebrows with such scam happening under his belt… or maybe we are just over expecting … he knows about this rot.
How do you expect him to arrest anyone when he’s the direct beneficiary… He’s in the thick of it directing who gets what share of the loot.
This Malawian ACB should never make any contact with the corrupt ACC because they will just be frustrated and lied to. It’s Pathetic!
Chakolwa is knee deep in this Sh!t.
One will never see Chakolwa being proactive against graft, as he uses Kaiser to do his dirty deeds.
Zambia is missing a serious sober uncompromised President.
This is purely business , just that the deal has gone through and now people see the figures involved.
If ZCF did deliver the maize and money was paid based on the quotation I don’t see a problem, but if they didn’t deliver and are the money then there’s a problem.
There’s no ban on maize export if the maize is being sold by private farmers.
ZCF sells maize on behalf of farmers who belong to different co-operatives and then ZCF pays the farmers money and they make commission to sustain their operations.
ZCF has a competent and qualified marketing department with qualified accountants and Managing Director. They work secure maize , supply and sell on behalf of farmers as well sell fertilizer in behalf of whoever fertilizer seller they go in contract business.
The maize…
The maize which is banned for export is FRA because that is Governent maize and goverment has a responsibility of stocking maize in case of drought do that goverment can sustain it’s people .
ZCF had every right to sell the maize to whoever buyer offers the best price on the market and the mode of payment is flexible.
Let the commission of enquiry go ahead , but it’s business . Am sure the company showed ZCF proof of funds and ZCF was guaranteed the money on behalf of farmers and ZCF was surity to farmers
ZCF does not need to get permission from the President to sell the Maize neither the Minister.
Farmers bring Maize to ZCF do that ZCF can sell maize on their behalf. Some farmers prefer to sell their maize to ZCF than FRA. It’s their maize and no one can tell them what to do with their maize.
Farmers spends huge sums of money on planting and harvesting maize . Some farmers borrows money from their respective banks.
The president must not interfere in the operations of ZCF..
Millions of dollars were borrowed to purchase maize from Zambia? These are merciless thieves stealing borrowed money. Exporting all that maize to another country!!No wonder our staple food is so expensive here in Zambia.
@Democrat growing maize is very expensive and laborious. Government capacity to directly subsdise consumption has been overwhelmed by the growing population and mines having been put in private hands. It’s time to look after ourselves and all these problems will be minimized.
I can put the heads of all people from my clan for chopping on this one, nothing will happen in Zambia. I can even add my neighbours clans, nothing will happen. According to our BOMA this was a government to government nothing more nothing less..