The Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority has, again, extended the deadline for full migration to the Malawi National Electronic Procurement System to December 2026.
Critics warn the development is retrogressive as it undermines transparency and real-time oversight, as struggling Procuring and Disposing Entities (PDEs) are now permitted to conduct procurements offline.
Key developments
lSecond extension: This marks the second extension in recent months due to a poor compliance rate, following an initial mandatory transition deadline of April 1.
lSole compliant entity: By the original April 1 deadline, only the Electricity Generation Company of Malawi had successfully migrated.
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lOfficial circular: The extension was issued in a June 2026 circular signed by PPDA acting director general Timothy Kalembo.
Interim offline guidelines
Entities facing technical or capacity challenges are temporarily allowed to conduct manual procurement, which includes:
lAdvertising and receiving bids
lEvaluating proposals
l Awarding contracts
To maintain transparency, struggling PDEs must upload all offline procurement documents to the MANePS portal within seven days of a contract award.
The delayed transition to digital public procurement in Malawi has sparked fierce criticism from governance experts, who warn that continued reliance on offline, manual processes—such as uploading contracts only after they are signed—creates loopholes for corruption and severely undermines transparency.
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Background and context
Public procurement consumes approximately 70 percent of the national budget, with alarming estimates suggesting that half of these funds are lost to corruption, according to figures from the Anti-Corruption Bureau.
The problem with the extension
Recent policy has allowed government entities to continue operating offline and mandates that all documentation be uploaded to the digital system only within seven days of contract signing. Experts argue this effectively allows entities to bypass digital oversight during the critical procurement phases, relegating the system to a mere record-keeping tool after the fact.
Public expenditure tracking expert Mabvuto Bamusi described this system extension as a “retrogressive” move and a green light for bad procurements.
“The risks associated with the extension are huge,” Bamusi said.
“This is a licence to looting.” He highlighted that this delay comes as the government prepares to commence multiple major infrastructure and implementation projects across various ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).
Governance vs. Technical failure
The push for digitisation has been sluggish. By May, only 33 percent of procuring entities had uploaded their procurement plans, raising severe concerns about political will and enforcement capacity.
Centre for Social Transparency and Accountability executive director Willy Kambwandira warned that the shift to a digital procurement framework threatens entrenched interests that benefit from manual loopholes, discretion, and opacity.
“The fact that only one of 175 procuring entities had migrated reflects a governance failure, not a technical one,” Kambwandira noted.
“Without strong political will, the system risks becoming another expensive white elephant with little to celebrate.”
He added that the continued extension of offline procurement is glaring evidence of poor enforcement and weak political commitment.
Kambwandira urged the authority to ensure December 2026 is the final deadline, with public disclosure of compliance and firm sanctions against controlling officers who fail to comply.
“Controlling officers who fail to implement the system without justifiable reasons should be held accountable through administrative and disciplinary measures,” he said.
“Accountability is essential to maintaining the credibility of procurement reforms.”
Administrative hurdles
The delays are not limited to the digital migration itself. According to the PPDA authority, a major hurdle remains the inability of most Procuring and Disposing Entities (PDEs) to properly prepare their annual procurement plans, despite having the necessary approvals already in place.
Transitioning to the e-Government Procurement (eGP) system is vital for tightening public resource controls and curbing corruption. However, low migration rates highlight critical institutional challenges that require strong change management, capacity building, and strict accountability to resolve.
System resistance and the need for reform
Procurement specialist Alinafe Malisawa noted in an interview that large-scale digital transitions often face deep-seated resistance and inertia, particularly in environments accustomed to manual processes.
The slow adoption rate points to broader weaknesses in institutional preparedness, change management, capacity building, and enforcement. Successful reforms require a fundamental mindset shift, adequate resources, and consistent monitoring.
Minister of Finance, Economica Planning and Decentralisation Joseph Mwanamvekha made the digital system’s use mandatory, as part of public finance management reforms aimed at enhancing transparency, accountability, and efficiency in public spending.
While offline procurement may occasionally be necessary to avoid disrupting essential public services, it undermines the transparency and traceability the PPDA system was designed to guarantee.
The longer manual systems remain in operation, the greater the opportunities for inefficiencies and procurement irregularities to occur.
To ensure all entities adequately familiarise themselves with the electronic platform, the PPDA has adopted a transitional, handholding strategy.
The PPDA has targeted December 2026 as the final, non-negotiable deadline for full migration.
The extension comes as Escom, one of the entities yet to fully migrate, is embroiled in fresh procurement controversies.
PPDA recently rejected the power utility’s preferred K8.1 billion bid for transformers and metering units, saying the corporation violated its own evaluation criteria.
In May this year, Escom’s director of finance Brian Ndisale was suspended over alleged flouting of procedures in the procurement of K8 billion worth of motor vehicle tyres from Mapeto Tyres last September.
In 2022, the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Climate Change called for prosecution of people behind a K14 billion misprocurement, which created a backlog of 52 000 applications dating back to 2018.
In 2020, Escom was also embroiled in another misprocurement scandal which cost taxpayers $1 373 712.50 after it erroneously procured high rupturing capacity fuses, circuit breakers and surge arrestors.
Kambwandira said the recurring procurement transgressions at the power firm point to a corporate governance culture compromised by systemic impunity and political interference.
“When regulatory bodies are forced to intervene as is the case with PPDA on Escom, it raises serious questions about whether procurement decisions are being driven by value for money and public interest or by other considerations,” he said.
PPDA spokesperson Mandy Pondani said to ensure safeguards, the procuring and disposing entities are required to submit details of the challenges they are facing so that the Authority may provide assistance where need is required.
“Secondly, the Authority will enhance its monitoring and compliance onsite activities alongside handholding for those procuring and disposing entities reporting challenges with Maneps,” she said.
Escom and Malawi Revenue Authority had not yet responded to our questionnaires by press time.
