Cama starts Admarc maize saga probe

Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) executive director John Kapito has disclosed that his organisation will conduct a probe into in the maize procurement saga that has hit Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc).

Kapito told Nation on Sunday on Friday that as a representative of consumers, Cama does not want to speculate or go by what the media and other quarters are saying about the matter.

“We have started our own investigations into the matter. We want to be natural, and we will make public our findings in two weeks’ time. We do not want to speculate on the issue,” he said.

Kapito said the investigations will touch on all players who were involved in the procurement process.

The Cama boss said a meeting he had scheduled with Admarc CEO Foster Mulumbe on Friday failed because it coincided with another meeting of the parastal’s board of directors.

He said the meeting was supposed to tackle the justification of the current maize price of K12 500 that Admarc is asking for a 50- kilogramme bag of maize.

In a letter dated 28 December 2016, which Nation on Sunday has seen, Cama also asks Admarc for information pertaining to the purchase of maize from Zambia.

“We have been following with interest in the current issue surrounding the maize procurement by your organisation from Zambia where sources of purchase and price is not clear as there are different names of sources of suppliers,” reads the letter in part.

Cama’s independent probe comes after the commission of inquiry that President Peter Mutharika established to investigate the matter has attracted criticism over its composition, with civil society organisations (CSO) asking to be included in the commission.

Also planning to probe the matter is the Parliament Committee on Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, and the Anti-Corruption Bureau.

Besides, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament wants Mulumbe and Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Minister George Chaponda to be removed from their positions to pave the way for investigations into the matter. n