Admarc maintains K107m CEO vehicle

Cash-strapped Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) has clung to the K107 million vehicle two years after then general manager Rhyno Chiphiko got suspended following its purchase, Nation on Sunday has established.

The vehicle, a luxurious Nissan Patrol V8 registration NE 9896, is now used by chief executive officer Daniel Makata.

Critics have since faulted Admarc for clinging on to the vehicle, arguing that it could have been sold to recoup proceeds while outgoing board chairperson Zachary Kasomekera said this was a decision of the then board of directors.

The vehicle’s purchase triggered fury of the then board of directors chaired by Alexander Kusamba Dzonzi, who suspended Chiphiko. Both Chiphiko and Kusamba Dzonzi were senior members of the Malawi Congress Party and served as members of Parliament between 2014 and 2019.

In his justification, Kusamba Dzonzi said the vehicle’s purchase showed impunity and wastage, especially considering Admarc’s financial disarray.

Besides, critics had also argued that procurement of the vehicle was extravagant for a taxpayer-funded institution that survives on government-guaranteed loans owing to its constant loss-making.

Chiphiko was, therefore, suspended on May 20 2022 following an audit that the board of directors instituted pertaining to the purchase of the vehicle.

But  two years down the line, the car is still in the custody of Admarc which has new structural set-up.

The vehicle has been assigned to the CEO for official use despite being bought outside the entitlement of the particular office as per a circular from the Office of Controller of Statutory Corporation dated July 18 2017 reference number C1/01/02.

For instance, when the Minister of Agriculture on Tuesday visited maize selling depots and Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi depots in selected parts of the Southern Region, Makata was using the vehicle.

A source within the Admarc board confided in Nation on Sunday that in an ideal situation, the vehicle ought to have been sold.

But in a brief written response, Kasomekera, who has been reappointed as Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (Luanar) Council chairperson, said: “The decision [to maintain the vehicle] was made by the then board of directors.”

Kasomekera could not provide a further response as he indicated that he has assumed his new role at Luanar.

Meanwhile, a new board chairperson for Admarc is yet to be appointed.

Reacting to the development, Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency executive director Willy Kambwandira described the situation as unfortunate and that it signals a lack of seriousness on the part of Admarc.

He said the vehicle would have been sold and the funds reallocated to priority areas within Admarc.

He said: “Given these revelations, one would only speculate that the removal of the former Admarc general manager was only witch-hunting and that was not done in good faith.”

Kambwandira also pointed that this does not give a warning to other controlling officers and that it shows double standards.

Centre for Democracy and Development Initiatives executive director Sylvester Namiwa said in a separate interview that the situation signals a serious governance problem both at institutional and national levels.

He said: “If it is indeed true that the CEO is using the same vehicle that is the reason the previous general manager was fired, then someone is taking us for granted. Actually, by now, the vehicle should have been disposed of to recoup the public money abused.

“It is an insult to the intelligence of voters and taxpayers who are facing a life-threatening hunger for them to see a CEO driving a vehicle that cost someone his job. The authorities seem to suggest that they had issues with Chiphiko and they only used the vehicle as a scapegoat.”

Namiwa said such revelations show that Admarc owes Malawians an honest explanation as to why Chiphiko was reprimanded.

“This is highly insensitive to the majority vulnerable and marginalised that are starving to death as a result of suffocating the once tried and tested public entity in the name of Admarc that used to provide accessible and affordable food and agriculture to the masses across the country,” he further said.