Leader of Opposition in Parliament Kondwani Nankhumwa has asked Minister of Agriculture Lobin Lowe to explain circumstances surrounding the K750 million fertiliser imports deal that has stirred controversy.

In a letter dated October 7 2022, he said the Ministry of Agriculture’s explanation through a press statement last week has gaps.

Nankhumwa: He must explain the deal

Nankhumwa said: “Although your ministry has come up with an explanation in form of a press release to the effect that only K750 million was paid to the alleged United Kingdom [UK] firm, there are still glaring gaps that you need to address, especially about the procurement process that was used in this procurement gaffe.”

His query follows revelations by the Ministry of Agriculture that the Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi had a contract with the UK company Barkaat Foods Limited to supply fertiliser for the 2022/23 Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP).

The ministry, in a statement signed by Principal Secretary Sandram Maweru, said the company had a deal with the actual supplier, Yara Limited UK for an initial 25 000 metric tonnes of fertiliser and demanded a commitment fee of $727 000 (about K750 million) to lock the price and the money was paid through Ecobank.

Barkaat Foods Limited is said to have failed to supply and agreed to transfer the fee back through the same Ecobank.

Efforts to seek reaction from Lowe on Monday proved futile as he could not be reached and neither did he respond to our questionnaire sent through his WhatsApp.

ACB principal public relations officer Egrita Ndala told The Nation edition of October 14 2022 that the ministry bypassed the graft-busting body as it did not receive the contract for vetting.

In the 2022/23 National Budget, K109.5 billion was allocated towards the AIP budget.

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