Nankhumwa shakes chakwera over crises 

Leader of Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa has threatened to lead an all-inclusive national demonstration if President Lazarus Chakwera fails to brief the nation on various issues affecting the country within 14 days.

At a press briefing in Blantyre on Thursday, Nankhumwa demanded that Chakwera should explain the K30 billion meant for procuring fertiliser which is alleged to have gone missing and the financial mismanagement that led to the alleged loss of about K330 million at the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc).

He also said the President must make a statement on the country’s fuel and forex scarcity, which is causing a lot of assets and human capital to remain unproductive as people spend time looking for fuel.

Said Nankhumwa: “There seems to be no figurehead to provide leadership and hope to Malawians at this very critical time when it is needed the most.

“I wish to conclude by asking President Lazarus Chakwera to comprehensively attend to the issues raised herein within the next 14 days.

“If he does not do that, I wish to warn the President and his administration that I will lead national demonstrations, and I am prepared to mobilise the faith community, traditional leaders, civil society organisations and the general citizenry to participate in such protests.”

He also claimed that he has information that the Moroccan Government has given Malawi 10 000 metric tonnes of fertiliser for this year’s farming season, but wondered why government has been silent on the matter. 

Nankhumwa also said issues surrounding Admarc and the alleged missing K30 billion meant for the procurement of fertiliser is an indication that Lowe has failed to deliver and that the “immediate noble thing for him is to resign his from position.”

Asked for President Chakwera’s response presidential press secretary Anthony Kasunda referred Weekend Nation to government spokesperson Gospel Kazako who also referred this reporter to Lowe who could not be reached on his phone.

The Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture on Tuesday accused the Ministry of Agriculture of letting down the nation on food security by keeping under wraps implementation status of this year’s Affordable Inputs Programme. The committee’s chairperson Sameer Suleman told journalists that about K30 billion meant for procuring of fertiliser has gone missing.

Last month Lowe suspended all operations of Admarc over allegations of corruption and wastefulness and sent all employees on leave pending restructuring of the parastatal.

Responding to the K30 billion query, Secretary for Agriculture Sandram Maweru on Thursday issued a statement in which he said the Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi (SFFRFM) contracted several companies to supply fertilizer to the country and one of such firm was a UK-based Barkaat Foods Limited, which has failed to supply 25 000 MT of fertiliser.

But he said the commitment fee of K750 million which was paid to the company would be remitted through Ecobank by the end of this month.