Experts call for strong action to end corruption in parastatals.

Good governance experts in the country have emphasized that there is need for drastic actions to prevent rot and embezzling of public funds in parastatals.

Speaking in an interview with Our News Platform Mw, Undule Mwakasungula, the Governance and Human Rights Advocate said Electricity Generation Company (EGENCO) audit report is a tip that most Parastatals in Malawi are caressing rot hence the need for deterrent measures to contain it.

He said the EGENCO audit for the period from 1st January 2017 to 31st March 2022 has revealed mismanagement of resources at the company.

Mwakasungula said the audit serves as a strong reminder of the significance of strong governance, clear policies and procedures, and performance measurement in Parastatals.

“Holding accountable those implicated in corrupt practices will be necessary to transmit a strong message that mismanagement will not be business as usual like in the past governments and not tolerated by the current government,” said Mwakasungula.

He added that the approach will discourage further misconduct in all Parastatals.

Forum for National Development-FND claims they received an allegation that Secretary to the President and Cabinet Colleen Zamba and Secretary for Energy Engineer Alfonso Chikuni have been forcing EGENCO to hand over the 300MW Kammwamba Coal-Fired Power Plant to an Indian company called Jindal Limited.

This is despite EGENCO reportedly already spending over K4 billion on the same plant. FND questions why there is no clear outline how the money will be recovered.

In a statement, FND National Coordinator and Chairperson Fryson Chodzi and Bright Kampaundi respectively stress that Malawians must know the agreement between Jindal and the Malawi Government on the project.

They argue: “How were other governance institutions like the PPDA and Government Procurement Unit as well as ACB involved in selecting the company?

”It is utmost important that Malawians understand the reason behind this proposed transfer of the project to Jindal Limited at no cost. How was the company in question identified and when was the due diligence conducted on the company?”

Again, FND wonders why Parliament seems not interested in this issue when the same Zamba was implicated in corruption allegations by the former deputy Chief Executive Officer for National Oil Company of Malawi, NOCMA Hellen Buluma over fuel supply deals.

It suggests Parliament should also be investigated on why it is not conducting on Zamba amid these widespread allegations.

It is reported the investigation has to further establish how the company responded after the two cyclones damaged infrastructure, leading to persistent and prolonged power rationing.

But early, former embattled Energy Generation Company (EGENCO) chief executive officer, William Liabunya, come under fire following an expose of him deliberately flouting company procedures especially in recruitment processes that were largely mired in sheer unprofessionalism, nepotism and cronyism.

Liabunya has been in the news over the past one year for all the wrong reasons.

He was sent on compulsory leave together with company secretary Videlia Mluwira pending a forensic investigation into their irregular dealings on a number of issues.

The two obtained an injunction from the Industrial Relations Court (IRC) against the board of directors for its decision.

However, the injunction was vacated days later and the same court determined that the two proceed on leave up until an inter-parties hearing scheduled for next week.

Despite his efforts to play victim over his predicament, it has been firmly established that Liabunya is the architect of his own downfall following a string of unilateral decisions he made contrary to laid down procedures.

A forensic audit and investigation has unearthed startling revealetion of Egenco is sitting on a K6.7 billion procurement mess for transactions undertaken between January 2017 and March 2022.

The misprocurement is said to be connected to unissued items in stock, unauthorized requisitions, and rampant single sourcing of materials and services instead of sourcing through ational competitive bidding (NCB), the audit report reveals.

From the K6.7 billion query, the report details that Egenco has K447.6 million unissued stock from 2018 purchases, another K224 million from 2018/19 purchases, K479.5 million from 2019 purchases and K679.9 million for 2020 purchases, all totaling about K1.8 billion.

Reads the audit report in part: “The total amount above of K6 751 830 584.66 consists of duplicated amounts of K1 610 979 456.82 because it is detailed to reflect amounts specifically to areas of findings.

“We noted that the procurement policy is still in draft form and not yet approved for use. The entity uses mostly the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority [PPDA] Act and rules, but often deviates from the rules.”