Mzuzu-(MaraviPost)—The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has ordered Mwanza District Council to halt the purchase of facemasks to be distributed to people in the district on allegation of corruption.
In a letter that ACB issued to the council yesterday, the Bureau says Mwanza District Council overlooked some requirements for suppliers and should restart the whole procurement process.
According to the ACB, the Council failed to ensure that suppliers have a business license and a Taxpayer Identification Number (TPIN) certificate from Malawi Revenue Authority and splitting of the procurement process into two categories a development which raised eyebrows as recipe for corruption.
While confirming the cancellation, Mwanza District Commissioner, Malango Bottoman, said the Council has since halted the purchase of the materials and it will re-embark on the same after being advised.
“We need to understand the issues which they have raised before going forward because we also have advisors on procumbent. They have PPT which came to assist us in giving advice on how to conduct certain types of procurement. So, we have to get advice from them because we have to first understand the issues before we start because we might do the same mistakes which have been outlined,” said the Commissioner.
The ACB’s order to the Council comes amidst reports that district councils in the country failed to submit comprehensive reports on how they used their allocated sum of money from the K6.2 billion which treasury released in May last year to help in the purchase of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) against the current Covid-19 pandemic.
Recently, Malawi Government announced that it would provide financial resources to all district councils in the country to procure facemasks to be distributed to Malawians freely.
