700 bags ‘stolen’ AIP fertiliser recovered
Malawi Consulate in Tete, Mozambique and that country’s customs authorities have intercepted a truck carrying Malawi-destined 700 bags of Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) Urea fertiliser suspected to have been stolen.
In separate interviews Wednesday, Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale and Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson John Kabaghe confirmed that the consulate in Tete was on Monday working to have the recovered fertiliser delivered to Malawi.
Kawale said: “Our consulate in Tete worked on it and is processing the delivery of fertiliser to Malawi.”
At the K60 000 average price for a 50 kilogramme bag of Urea, we have calculated the value of the consignment to be around K42 million.
On the other hand, Kabaghe said: “The reports are correct. The truck had been carrying over 700 bags of fertiliser. Currently, the issue is still under investigation. Our Consul General in Tete is the one following up on the matter.”
According to Malawi’s Consul General in Tete and Zambezia Province, Happy Saka, the Malawi-registered truck which was travelling from Beira to Blantyre had gone missing for days, setting the authorities on a mission to track it.
Documents show that the Urea fertiliser belongs to the Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi (SFFRFM), a State agency implementatiing AIP.
National Police spokesperson Peter Kalaya asked for more time when we enquired about the issue, saying he was consulting responsible people within the country and in Mozambique.
But SFFRFM chief executive officer Richard Chikunkhuzeni said his major concern was that the theft has delayed distribution of the fertiliser.
He said if the fertiliser was stolen, the transporter was supposed to cover the costs of every bag, so he was not overly worried that they would lose out.
The truck owner, a Mr Kambwiri, on Tuesday said he was overwhelmed with the circumstances surrounding the matter, as such, would not grant media interviews.
The development comes at a time when many beneficiaries of AIP are yet to receive the subsidised fertiliser.
As at January 31, 2023 about 825 000 of the 2.5 million beneficiaries were yet to access the fertiliser.
