AG struggles to recover K563m
Malawians will have to endure a long wait for the possible recovery of $543 750 (about K563 million) from the botched K750 million Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) deal as the funds remain frozen in Germany.
In an interview yesterday, Attorney General (AG) Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda, who last year promised that the money will be recovered, said Malawi Government was still waiting for hearing of an application for a Confiscation Order filed last year.
He said: “There are court processes that are going on. An interim order was made while waiting for a final order. There was an application for permission to file for summary punishment which the Munich court granted.
“The next step is for the hearing of the actual application for summary punishment and for the confiscation order. Hearing of this application is pending.”
But in a separate interview, anti-money laundering law expert Jai Banda said Malawians should expect the recovery to take long.
“The recovery process is tedious. It is not as simple as many expected and often it does not favour foreign applications. Worse more, not even our AG can expedite the court process,” he said.
Banda said there is little to nothing that the AG can do now, apart from respecting the dictates of the court processes in Germany.
But Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency executive director Willy Kambwandira said Malawians should consider the money stolen.
“Let us consider this money stolen otherwise we will lose millions pretending that we are trying to recover it. We demand action on all people involved. We demand the arrest of all people involved in the loss of the funds,” he said in an interview yesterday.
Human Rights Defenders Coalition chairperson Gift Trapence said they expected government to be on top of things on such issues.
He expressed fear that the 2023/24 AIP may also be a flop if Capital Hill “continues to sleep on the job”.
He said: “The delays are an indication that government has failed to recover the money and is not committed even to bring those suspected to have defrauded the government to justice.
“One year has passed without any tangible progress. This is indicative enough of government’s failure to recover the money. We cannot allow such mismanagement of resources at the expense of the poor.”
Meanwhile, Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Ini t iat ives executive director Sylvester Namiwa has threatened to hold vigils at Capital Hill, if the AG does not provide an update within seven days.
He said Cdedi already wrote the AG on April 28, adding, the funds were meant to save millions of ultra-poor Malawians from starvation through the fertiliser subsidy programme and the matter cannot be left unattended to.
“The AG must tell the questions by demanding clarification, transparency and accountability on corruption cases and truth about the scandal, including details and motive of those lawyers said to have repaid part of the money in local currency,” he said.
On October 13 2022, former ministry of Agriculture Principal Secretary Sandram Maweru said Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi (SFFRFM) had a contract with Barkaat Foods Limited of the United Kingdom for the supply of fertiliser for the 2022/23 AIP.
He said the company demanded a commitment fee of about K750 million to lock the price and the money was remitted, but the firm failed to deliver goods, leading to the AG’s efforts to recover the funds. The botched deal irked President Lazarus Chakwera who on October 25 2022 sacked then minister of Agriculture Lobin Lowe and his deputy Madalitso Kambauwa Wirima for purportedly failing to provide leadership.
