The Anti-Corruption Bureau will next week come up with a list of black listed Malawians of Asian origin and there after all their property shall be seized for good.

Topping the list is Wahid Kassam of Manobec who has issues with the tax collectors MRA for his companies and Sun Seed being the main source of tax scam. Wahid is pushing the blame to his cousin Nazim Kassman and partner Ataf of transNabila and AS Investment.

As of now Wahid is at the ACB headquarters together with his managers answering a number of questions.  Already, Sun Seed Oil limited is being advertised amongst the Asians in their community and his son Wasim is now operating at Cross Road where manobec is housed.

Another culprit who has milked the national treasury is Farook Gani of Victoria hotels who has used the Malawi Defence Force as a cash cow. He also milked the Central Medical Store Trust with used and recycled synergies and allied materials. This time there is a case of Fraud and Fiscal Police just completed its investigations and has  since forwarded the file to ACB.  

Gani had been under supplying of goods which was food stuff and meals. He used to give tiny portions and poorly cooked to the Malawi Defence Force units and Barracks while the training college was the main victim of his evil deeds. All that has been documented through pictures taken by soldiers who were unhappy and forwarded the same to ACB for action.

Last week Farook Gani was interviewed by both the fiscal Police and ACB. Some of the issues were hinging on tax of goods bought into the country without paying the determined value.

In this case Farook Gani has mentioned Ms Roza Mbilizi as a silent business partner.  He was quick to bring in the name of Norman Chisale and the former first lady Gertrude Mutharika.

ACB has also been investigating Dipak Jevant of Sealand Investment Limited for getting paid for services and goods not rendered at ministry of Agriculture and Health. 

Dipak used to front three companies and all get the contracts to supply fertiliser for the subsidy project and documented delivery notes and other papers which made it real.

At the end Norman Chisale would come to get millions for the president then.  Fiscal Police have found all this and more than seven people are ready to testify against him in a court of law.

ACB has also zeroed in on Rafik Gaffer for his issue of getting contracts at the Ministry of lands under his company Solid Construction Limited by passing the tendering process as stipulated under the PPDA act.

Once these merchants are under the spotlight the fight against corruption will be a great success. Wahid is planning to bribe the Investigating officer has since pleaded to have their numbers.

The Tobacco Commission (TC) says this year’s Tobacco Marketing Season will open on Thursday, the 31st of March, which is earlier than previous years.

The Commission made the announcement through a media statement issued on Wednesday saying the marketing season will open earlier this year for the ‘economic benefit of the growers’.

“The 2022 Tobacco Marketing season will open on 31 March, starting with Lilongwe Floors followed by the opening of Limbe floors on 5th April,” reads the statement issued by the commission’s public relations officer Telephorus Chigwenembe.

According to the statement, dates for opening of Chinkhoma and Mzuzu will be announced in the second week of April.

Tobacco deliveries at Lilongwe and Limbe will start on 21st of March, the statement has stated.

Tobacco also known as the ‘green gold’ has for years been a mainstay of the rural economy and the country’s biggest foreign exchange earner in the country.

The Tobacco Commission is a statutory corporation mandated to regulate the production and marketing of tobacco in Malawi. The corporation’s mission is to provide regulatory services inorder to promote compliant tobacco production and marketing systems in a transparent and environmentally friendly manner using modern technologies.

Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) has protested the intention by the Government of Malawi to award China Railway 20 Bureau Limited (CR20) a contract to rehabilitate Bangula-Marka Railway line.

CDEDI has since written the Minister of Transport and Public Works, Jacob Hara, to consider withdrawing the authorization letter to the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets (PPDA) in order to allow for adequate soul-searching before settling for a company to do the rehabilitation of the much-awaited railway line rehabilitation project.

CDEDI Executive Director Sylvester Namiwa draws Hara’s attention to Section 53 subsection 2 (f) of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act of 2017, which, among others, cites past performance as one of the criteria in deciding to award a contract to a contractor. It is an open secret that Malawians are dissatisfied with the quality of works CR20 is implementing on the Nsanje-Marka road project.

Namiwa emphasizes that while CDEDI is delighted that government is keen at ensuring that it revives the Sena corridor that will connect Malawi to Mozambique through the 44 Kilometre Bangula-Nsanje railway line, there is a need for due diligence to ensure that Malawians get the quality service possible.

“It does not need emphasis that good road network, the railway line inclusive, is a catalyst of socio-economic development for any nation. In fact, the road sector has a myriad of multiplier effects that trickle down to all and sundry. It is also worth pointing out right here that we, at CDEDI, do not have any problem with any contractor as long as they deliver to the expectation of the citizens and in line with what is contained in their contractual agreements with the Government of Malawi, on one hand, and that due diligence was done, on the other hand, to ensure that the nation realises a high standard project that guarantees value for the hard-earned taxpayers’ money before awarding the contract,” reads part of the letter.

The letter also calls upon the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Sosten Alfred Gwengwe, and the Director General of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Martha Chizuma to equally take action on the matter.

Namiwa adds that the appointment of Hara to the Ministry of Transport and Public Works raised people’s hopes that soon or later sanity will prevail in this critical sector, and that millions envisioned the raising of the bar in as far as the standards of our public infrastructure is concerned.

He therefore challenged Hara to personally take interest in inspecting the Nsanje-Marka Road, which is being washed away even before CR20 completed the construction work.

“Apart from the grass root voices in Nsanje district, professional bodies such as those for engineers have raised a red flag on the quality of the said project. In a normal situation, therefore, none expected such a contractor to be rewarded, but rather be reprimanded, and if it were in other countries that are serious with issues of standards and professionalism, this company would have been sent packing! Hence this letter is copied to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), the Ministry of Finance, and the PPDA, for their information, deep reflection, and action. Refer to the newspaper articles marked Appendix 1, 2 and online links marked Appendix 3,4,5,6 and 7, to appreciate the basis of our action to write you Hon. Minister,” he wrote.

“CDEDI is meanwhile, challenging you Hon. Minister to travel to Nsanje to appreciate the kind of works done by this company before making any decision. If indeed your interest Hon. Minister is to serve Malawians without impunity and arrogance, and if indeed there are no personal and selfish interests attached to this decision, then you should consider cancelling this process immediately, for the good of your own legacy,” thus Namiwa concluded his epistle to Hara.

National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc top bosses Tuesday hosted team captains of the Mo626 College Basketball ‘elite four’ ahead of the last four games of competition which starts today in Lilongwe.

NBM plc Chief Executive Officer Macfussy Kawawa and Deputy Chief Executive Officer Harold Jiya hosted the captains at their offices in the NBM Towers and Business Complex in Blantyre to wish them well in the third season of the NBM plc sponsored Mo626 College Basketball competition.

NBM plc Marketing and Corporate Affairs Manager Akossa Hiwa said they invited representatives of some of the teams that will play in the upcoming games to NBM plc, just so they could catch up with them on how well training is progressing.

“The CEO and Deputy CEO equally wanted to meet and wish our college athletes well for the upcoming games. They congratulated them for making it past the top 8 and learnt a few basketball skills themselves from the athletes.”

“As the Bank of the Nation, NBM plc values its diverse clientele, and the youth are a part of this. We actively engage the youth through different initiatives, products and services and it was a pleasure to have them in the Executive Wing of the NBM plc towers in the two highest offices of the Bank. We took them out to lunch thereafter and shared lively moments with them. Dare I add that the college athletes were very inspired by the engagement with our CEO and Deputy CEO,” said Hiwa.

She said the excitement both within competing universities and among NBM plc employees has grown tremendously this week towards the count down to the finale on Saturday.

The final phase of the third season of the Mo626 College Basketball comes to an end this weekend with the ‘elite four’ games which starts today at the African Bible College (ABC) Blue Gym in Lilongwe.

The finals of the K63.5 million tourney will be played at the same venue on Saturday.

The ‘elite four’ games will see MAGU She-wolves, UNIMA Lady Hawks, Bunda Olivettes and Kuhesi Ganglions battling for honours in the ladies category while Mubas wildcats, MAGU Wolves, Unima Hawks and Bunda Buffaloes fighting for supremacy in the men’s category.

Basketball association of Malawi (Basmal) vice president Banthari Banda said they are excited with the level of competition that has been displayed in the third edition of the competition as they will have new winners since past winners (MCA LL Men- 1st and 2nd edition, ABC Lioness & ZIMA- 1st & 2nd edition respectively) are nowhere near the final top 4 teams.

“BASMAL is pretty much prepared for the finals as all semi-final games in both categories will be played on Friday from 15:00 hrs. at ABC Blue Gym with the last game of the day scheduled for 21hrs. 3rd place playoffs and Finals shall be played on Saturday from 9am at the same venue.”

“We are thankful to our sponsors NBM plc for setting the standards because the college competitions are creating a lot of scholarships to student players from both local and international colleges thereby creating intellectuals, disciplined individuals and future leaders through basketball. It’s our hope that NBM plc will renew the partnership with BASMAL that has come at the end of the MOU that was signed in 2017,” said Banda.

“BASMAL Vision is to make basketball everybody’s game, so we’re appealing to the general public, especially parents, to bring their kids to watch exciting basketball games that will be displayed on the day,” added Banda.