About 9 100 bags of subsidised fertiliser worth around K120 million (about $333 333) have been diverted to untargeted beneficiaries during this year’s Farm Input Subsidy Programme (Fisp), the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has said.
The ministry has also said it is withholding cheques for five transporters who are implicated in diversion of the fertiliser, saying one of them is still on the run after it was discovered that he did not deliver the fertiliser at some Admarc depots.
In an interview on Monday, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security public relations officer Sarah Tione said government is withholding cheques worth over K13 million for transporters implicated in fertiliser diversion.
“The initial report that the ministry has compiled [while] awaiting final Fisp report indicates that 455 metric tonnes of fertiliser have been diverted from transporters. This is 0.2 percent of the total fertiliser targeted for the programme,” said Tione.
She said some of the implicated transporters have started refunding the lost fertiliser.
In an interview during the just-ended parliamentary meeting, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Ulemu Chilapondwa said the implicated transporters are being asked to refund the missing fertiliser twice.
Road Transporters and Operators Association of Malawi (RTOAM) interim president Chrissie Flao on Monday said the blame on diversion of the subsidised fertiliser cannot be entirely pushed to them.
“It is not possible for transporters to divert fertiliser without conniving with some government officials. It is, therefore, unfair to push the blame entirely to the transporters,” said Flao.
One of the implicated transporters, Richard Kokoliko, who owns Kokoliko Transport Company, said they were betrayed by subcontractors whom he said diverted the fertiliser.
“We are suffering because of the subcontractors who created this mess. I am the one who first discovered the diversion of the fertiliser and reported the same to police.
“What happened is that we engaged some subcontractors who used vehicles with fake blue books and other documents. Overall, there are also some system loopholes in the Fisp programme which have worsened this problem. We are being punished for the wrongs committed by subcontractors,” said Kokoliko.
