Taulo removed as public procurement boss

The Director of Public Procurement Paul Taulo has been removed from office and moved to Airport Development Limited (ADL) where he will be deputy chief executive officer barely a year after his appointment.

Taulo’s removal comes at a time when the Office of Director of Public Procurement (ODPP) has become an authority following the amendment of the Public Procurement Act.

In a brief response, Taulo said he has been assigned to ADL effective November 1 2017.

He said: “I can confirm that I am out of ODPP and heading to ADL as deputy CEO.”

The Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) described Taulo’s removal as a transfer.

However, government spokesperson Nicholas Dausi asked for more time to find out from OPC.

Taulo replaced Dye Mawindo who retired after four years at the helm of the ODPP.

Taulo’s short stint at ODPP was riddled with controversies, among them the questionable manner in which his office gave a no-objection to State produce trader Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) to procure maize from Zambia without proof of due diligence.

Although the events occurred not long after his appointment, Taulo was nonetheless taken to task by Parliament for the role his officers played.

Recently, the media also reported that Taulo halted the procurement of generators by Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) after noting that processes were irregular.

ODPP gave Escom a no-objection to engage a company in the procurement, but months later, the corporation got back to the ODPP, raising questions which made him doubt the authenticity of the process.

Mawindo retired after serving at the helm of the ODPP since 2012 and now is chief executive officer (CEO) at Millennium Challenge Account-Malawi (MCA-M) where he took over from Susan Banda. n