SFFRFM’s procurement crippled

Confusion has ensued within government over the reconstitution of an internal procurement and disposal committee (IPDC) at Smallholder Fa r m e r s Fe r t i l i s e r Revolving Fund of Malawi (SFFRFM) disbanded three years ago for allegedly mishandling procurements.

While the Ministry of Agriculture and SFFRFM appear to suggest that the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA) is to blame for the absence of the IPDC at the fertiliser entity, the authority threw back the ball into the two entities’ court.

The blame game follows recent concerns from Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture chairperson Sameer Suleman who said SFFRFM is not involved in the Affordable Inputs Programme’s fertiliser procurement as the agency has IPDC since the dissolution of the previous one three years ago.

SFFRFM spokesperson Grace Thipa said in an interview yesterday that after the dissolution of the IPDC, PPDA instructed them to use the ministry’s IPDC for procurements.

On why their IPDC has not been appointed and why the fund needs PPDA to have it reconstituted, Thipa said the authority, as a regulator of public procurement, is better positioned to comment on the matter.

She said: “We are in discussions with PPDA to re-establish our IPDC as we have sufficient capacity to manage procurements in accordance with the PPDA Act.”

On the other hand, Ministry of Agriculture Pr i n c i p a l S e c r e t a r y Dickxie Kampani said in a written response that they were also waiting for a response from PPDA to their letter submitted last year, requesting the establishment of an IPDC at SFFRFM.

“We submitted a letter requesting the same from PPDA last year. We are also concerned because procurement at the fund is giving extra pressure and work on the ministry,” he said.

But PPDA public r e l a t i o n s a n d communications manager Ka te Kuj a l iwa sa i d yesterday that Section 25(2) (a) of the PPDA Act of 2017 provides that the controlling officer of a procuring and disposing entity (PDE) should appoint the IPDC.

“The PPDA Act 2017 does not give mandate to the authority to fill vacant positions in the PDE’s procuring and disposal unit [PDU]. The controlling officer in consultation with appropriate regulatory a n d / o r r e g u l a t o r y i n s t i t u t i o n o n t h e establishment of a post in the PDEs are better placed to ensure vacant positions are filled with qualified officers,” she said.

Kujaliwa said in exercise of the powers as provided under Section 6(1) (l) of the PPDA Act, the authority did suspend the procurement function at the SFFRFM due to some challenges the PDE has in handling its procurements.

She also confirmed that the authority, within its powers in Section 6(1) (l) read together with Section 27(6) of the PPDA Act of 2017, directed that all procurement functions of SFFRFM should be conducted through the Ministry of Agriculture up until the noted challenges in terms of the capacity of its PDU are resolved.

She said SFFRFM has now established a full PDU, which the authority is assessing to determine if SFFRFM could be allowed to execute its procurement functions.

The PPDA Act allows for establishment of IPDCs in all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

In an interview last week, Suleman said the committee wants the issue sorted as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Attorney General (AG) Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda has hit at Suleman for saying that officials from the AG’s office are pushing Treasury to pay East Bridge K70 billion for fertiliser importation.

In a written response, the AG said the committee must provide evidence to support its claims, describing Suleman’s allegations as criminal in nature.

He said: “It is difficult to respond to inquiries which do not have details. When they say pushing, what do they mean? Do they have evidence to support the allegation that my office has been pushing Treasury to pay K70 billion? Some of these inquiries are criminal allegations.”

Suleman, however, shot back, saying it is the AG’s job to explain to Malawians the truth about the East Bridge deal, adding that they want Nyirenda to investigate the matter and come out in the open with the truth.

“Instead of him threatening us, let him drive that energy towards telling the nation the truth. K70 billion is a huge amount that should have gotten his attention. Let him investigate on behalf of Malawians.

“The evidence is that government has gone into a secret deal with East Bridge by using the SFFRFM board as revealed by officials from SFFRFM, yet the same government withdrew the deal last year,” he said.

The ministry last year turned to SFFRFM for AIP fertiliser procurement after a failed deal with East Bridge for procurement of fertiliser.