Railway project delay frustrates Chakwera

President Lazarus Chakwera has expressed frustration over delays rocking implementation of the 72-kilometre (km) Bangula-Marka Railway construction project which has missed its completion deadline.

Speaking during what is now branded Quarterly State House Briefing at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe on Tuesday, presidential press secretary Anthony Kasunda said the President’s frustration was particularly on the slow procurement procedures which have also affected several other projects.

He said: “The President is determined to have the project done as soon as possible. This is why the President has made sure that institutions such as the ACB [Anti-Corruption Bureau], PPDA [Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority] and others are empowered to be able to identify and stop acts of misprocurement.

“More importantly, you may recall that in September 2020 the President declared in Parliament that no matter what broken system, no matter what stands in the way, the railway will be done and he is determined to deliver on that promise.”

The project was mooted in October 2020 after Chakwera met his Mozambican counterpart Felipe Nyusi and agreed to revive the Sena Corridor to link the two countries by rail. The corridor provides rail connection to the Beira Port in Mozambique for landlocked Malawi.

Mozambique completed its 44-km section from Mutarara to Marka while Malawi is yet to start works on the project.

Procurement processes such as evaluation of bids were completed in December 2020 and in May last year the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to have the rehabilitation works of the railway line completed by March 2022.

Last year, Portuguese multidisciplinary and construction conglomerate Mota-Engil emerged as the successful lowest bidder for the contract with an offer of K48 billion, but the ACB nullified the tender, citing procurement irregularities.

Ministry of Transport and Public Works retendered the project and last month settled for a Chinese firm, China 20, at a cost of about K68 billion.

In an earlier interview, Minister of Transport and Public Works Jacob Hara justified the increase in the cost of the project, saying it was due to the design change to match the Mozambican standard.

Said the minister: “There are now more works besides the railway. I also changed the bearing load capacity of the rail in order to match what our Mozambican counterparts have already constructed on their side. It is now 20.5 tonne/axle load from the previous 18 tonne/axle load.”

However, the new contractor is also facing resistance from the surrounding community are questioning the contractor’s capacity to construct a railway line after alleged poor workmanship on a road project in the area.

In her address during the briefing, Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU) head Colleen Zamba said the President was passionate about the railyway project and that it is one of the projects that PDU would like to see take off as soon as possible.

She expressed concern that after the announcement of intention to award the contract to China 20 some people are mobilising communities to frustrate the project on allegations that the contractor built a substandard road.

Zamba, who is also presidential adviser on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and international affairs, said: “If there are issues, there is always a channel to handle those and not mob justice.

“I do not think that all the roads that have been affected by heavy rains were constructed by this company. We must accept that we have disasters and we need more resilient infrastructure to stand the changing times.”

During the briefing, Kasunda also said people should not always be critical of presidential external travels as their benefit sometimes outweigh the cost.

He said this in response to a question on Vice-President Saulos Chilima’s forthcoming trip to New York, which has stirred debate over the size of the entourage.

Kasunda said: “It has always been the President’s view that the size and who is part of it must always be determined by the mission to be accomplished on that trip.

“It is wrong to send 10 people to do two people’s jobs the same way it is wrong to send two people to do 10 people’s job. The number of people on a delegation should always be commensurate to the job they are going to do.”

He also said the President delegated Chilima for this trip, but did not dictate how the Vice-President should travel.

On Tuesday’s, State House Briefing was the first after a six-month break of what initially started as a weekly briefing before it turned into a fortnightly one.