Defence quizzes Buluma on Nocma fuel deals

Defence lawyers in multi-million dollars National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) fuel imports deals case yesterday quizzed former Nocma deputy chief executive officer Helen Buluma on some contracts she personally awarded.

During continuation of cross-examination, the lawyers also noted that Buluma’s mobile phone, which she used to record conversations with some of the suspects on the deals, as tampered with as some information was missing.

In the case, former minister of Energy Newton Kambala, former presidential adviser Chris Chaima Banda and Alliance for Democracy (Aford) president Enoch Chihana are accused of attempting to influence Nocma to award contracts to particular suppliers in 2020.

In his cross-examination, defence lawyer Wapona Kita put it to Buluma that she herself awarded a contract for the supply of fuel to a supplier called IPG without the supplier bidding for them. He wondered if the arrangement was procedural.

The lawyer asked the witness to read out a document she signed in which Nocma was asking Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) to approve fuel volumes for IPG despite not bidding.

“The IPDC, which is the Internal Procurement and Disposal Committee, also approved the evaluation of these recommendations that IPG be offered a total of 61.749 metric tonnes [MT] of DDU [duty delivered unpaid] volumes for Beira [in Mozambique] at the lowest premium offered by the suppliers that made it to the final stage of the bid process despite that they did not bid,” reads the document.

Kita wondered why Buluma wrote Mera seeking clearance for such a contract.

“You are asking Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority to approve volumes of IPG even though they did not bid,” he said.

In her response, Buluma admitted asking Mera to approve the volumes, but said she had an explanation for that.

However, Kita faulted Buluma for being part of Nocma’s evaluation committee as she was the company’s controlling officer.

He wondered how she would address complaints from suppliers if they happened to query how Nocma handled things, given that as a controlling officer she was the same person suppliers were supposed to channel their complaints to.

But Buluma said in the event that a supplier is aggrieved, the matter would be handled at a higher level.

Kita also described Buluma as a law breaker, saying the court already found her to be one in relation to the case at hand.

He told the court that the defence made an application earlier in relation to recordings of conversations that Buluma made without the express consent of the suspects and the court found that she violated Chaima Banda and Kambala’s rights to privacy.

In response, Buluma said she also had the right to protect herself and that as a witness, she was only giving evidence and it was for the court to decide on the matter.

But Kita reminded Buluma that she was talking about evidence obtained illegally and that her appointment as Nocma deputy chief executive officer was illegal.

The lawyer also asked Buluma if her appointment was political appeasement having belonged to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

But in response, Buluma said it was never mentioned to her that politics was the basis of her appointment.

The lawyer further said Buluma was a person who has a tendency of disobeying court orders and asked her if she recalled facing contempt of court charges in the commercial court.

To this, the witness said she could not recall.

However, the response prompted Kita to tell the witness that she once faced contempt of court for purportedly disobeying an injunction that restricted Nocma on methods of procurement of fuel.

In his cross-examination, Kita also told the court that Buluma’s phone, which is part of the evidence in court, was tampered with while in the custody of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). He produced photographs of Buluma’s iPhone 11 that he took when the defence team inspected it on February 15, 2022.

The photos showed that the contents of the phone then, in particular the recordings, are different from what is in the phone now. It showed that the phone had 53 recordings but now it only has three recordings.

Buluma did not say anything on the tampering of the phone as the phone was with the ACB.

Kita also produced pictures showing that the phone had new recordings made after Buluma had already submitted the phone to ACB and after the suspects in the case had been arrested.

The suspects were arrested in August 2021, but the phone had recording for January 2022.

He wondered if Buluma still had access to the phone after it was submitted to the ACB.

The case has been adjourned to today for continuation of cross-examination of Buluma.