Nankhumwa brands Admarc suspension illegal

Leader of Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa has alleged that the Ministry of Agriculture’s move to suspend Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) operations is not backed by the law that established the State produce trader.

He said this at a press conference in Lilongwe on Friday, two days after Minister of Agriculture Lobin Lowe announced the suspension as part of restructuring amid corruption and mismanagement claims.

 The minister further announced that the suspension would only spare social services.

Lowe also said all members of staff have been placed on paid leave apart from those who will be communicated to.

Said Nankhumwa: “Admarc was established by an Act of Parliament and there’s nowhere within that Act where it is empowering the minister of Agriculture to close Admarc. There is no single syllable, no single paragraph, no single phrase in that Act that is empowering the minister to do so.

 “The role of the Ministry of Agriculture is policy guidance, logistical arrangements for example when there is hunger in Chiradzulu or Chitipa, [the ministry] strategies with Admarc to send maize to these affected areas.

 “Issues of employment are done by the Department of Statutory Corporation and the Department of Human Resource and Management which are under the Office of the President and Cabinet.”

He further stated that “the minister of Agriculture, therefore, has overstepped his mandate and demanded that this action [suspension] must be withdrawn forthwith and in its entirety.”

The Leader of Opposition has meanwhile asked Admarc employees to return to work on Monday warning that if they are harassed, they would force off the government’s hand of resistance through Parliament.

 “The decision that has been done sending on forced leave all members of staff is unfair, unprocedural and it’s not legally binding. It is against this background that members of staff of Admarc must go back to work,” he said.

Nankhumwa has also pointed out that the suspension of Admarc may affect the bid against hunger in the country as the parastatal has depots across the country where it serves a majority of Malawians.

In the meantime, Nankhumwa has asked other committees of Parliament to assess legality of the move to suspend operations of Admarc.

 “I also wish to urge the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament and other relevant committees of Parliament to look into this matter to see its efficacy, and whether or not the move made by the minister of Agriculture is in the best interest of the people of Malawi, the taxpayers,” he explained.

However, the Legal Affairs Committee chairperson Peter Dimba in an interview said it would wait until expiry of the three months which the ministry has stipulated to implement the parastatal’s transformation strategy.

 “The Leader of Opposition in a democracy like ours is within his mandate to question the decision by the Hon Minister of Agriculture but he would also ironically be committing the same error he is accusing the Hon Minister of Agriculture of [overstepping his mandate] by ordering the employees who have been sent on paid leave by the shareholder in consultation with the board of directors to go back to work.

 “Obviously different people would have different perspectives on this matter depending on various factors. As a committee, we feel it will be too early to make a verdict on this matter until the said three months period within which the turn-around strategy is to be implemented elapses and at the moment we will employ a wait and see approach,” he said. 

Addressing a press briefing on Wednesday in Lilongwe, Lowe said government has been assessing Admarc operations and concluded that it was not bringing the desired results as outlined in its mandate.

He stated that the police have been deployed to all Admarc offices to block any employee from going near the corporation’s premises.

Nankhumwa described this move as “archaic” and a ploy to “revert the country to a one-party State.”

The minister disclosed that Admarc has 4 063 employees against a requirement of 1 500, a statement viewed as likely to lead to job cuts.