Malawi Enterprise Development Fund (Medf) has put up for sale farm inputs procured in excess in an apparent bid to recoup some of the money spent on their purchase.
Through a newspaper notice, Medf said the inputs would be sold through an auction at its designated offices nationwide, starting with Mzuzu in the Northern Region on August 25, the Eastern Region on September 1, Blantyre in the Southern Region on September 5 and Lilongwe in the Central Region on September 11 and 12.
Medf chief executive officer Kayisi Sadala in an interview yesterday said the institution proceeded with the auction following approval by the board.
He said the intention was to recoup the money spent on purchasing the inputs.
In a separate interview, Parliamentary Committee on Commissions, Statutory Corporations and State Enterprises chairperson Sylvester Ayuba James said the committee expected Medf to follow its recommendations.
The Nkhotakota Central legislator said the committee stands by its earlier recommendations calling for the disposal process to focus on items that were due to expire and for an assessment to be conducted to establish the actual quantities of the inputs for accountability purposes.
“We recommended that the disposal process should begin with items that are due to expire, while allowing the remaining equipment to be disposed of through the normal process so that the money can be recovered,” said James.
Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources Centre for Agricultural Research and Development director Innocent Pangapanga Phiri said the inputs could have been redirected to the Farm Inputs Subsidy Programme (Fisp) as the country is running low on chemical fertilisers.
He said Medf should work with the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development to allocate the inputs to Agricultural Development Divisions (ADDs) where they could be used for winter cropping to help avert the anticipated food shortage instead of disposing them through public auctions.
Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency executive director Willy Kambwandira said the reported loss in value of taxpayer-funded agricultural assets before their disposal was not merely a case of depreciation.
Items listed for auctioning include 8 429 bags of fertiliser, including NPK, Urea and Grow Best fish-based organic fertiliser. The stock also includes 5 940 bottles of liquid fertilisers and soil treatments, including Liquid Nano Urea and Grow Best Fish Liquid.
The auction comes against the background of a reported loss of an estimated K5.2 billion in the value of the agricultural stocks, after authorities delayed their disposal pending a forensic audit ordered by Parliament.
