BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-The embattled Secretary to the President and Cabinet (SPC) Collen Zamba has been again caught in shady fuel supply deal with unexperienced off-show firm HG Technologies.

Zamba, the National Oil Company of Malawi (NOCMA) board chairperson is said to be using her mandate to influence awarding of fuel supply tenders to incompetent suppliers against guiding principles, this publication has established.

Impeccable sources both at Nocam and Capital Hill in Lilongwe say the company’s Internal Procurement Committee (IPC) is in the process of extending fuel supply contracts to firms already in its books following a satisfactory appraisal of all suppliers last month.

Surprisingly, Zamba who earlier endorsed the IPC recommendations has been growing cold feet to expedite finalization of contract extensions.

She has rather chosen to drag in a completely new supplier with a hazy track record as a favorable supplier.

According to our sister paper, Nyasa Times, the favoured company, HG Technologies, is believed to be an off-shore firm with no experience whatsoever in fuel logistics, which is one of the most complicated sectors within the petroleum industry.

“It is illegal and against procedure to change suppliers just like that. The vetting processes that are carried out to select fuel suppliers will show you that HG Technologies does not know what this industry involves. They have just been thrown into the hat due to connections with the board chair,” a member of the committee told our sister paper under strict condition of anonymity.

This is not the first time for the SPC to be webbed in such shady deals. Since she was hired in 2022, Zamba has been mired in a number of high profile investigations involving procurement deals in some critical sectors of the economy such as energy and agriculture.

Her role as board chairperson of NOCMA is what raised eyebrows on the level of powers she has and how she uses that power in executing her duties.

Appearing before parliament’s Public Appointments Committee last year, former NOCMA boss Hellen Buluma implicated Zamba as the brains behind dubious contracts around procurement and shipping of petroleum products into the country.

The scathing revelations indicate that the SPC was pressuring her (Buluma) into awarding fuel supply contracts to a list of companies without following procedures.

In one of the deals, Buluma was forced to allegedly involve a person identified as ‘Chief’ from Nigeria and some few Malawian fixers.

Buluma gave an account of how she was dragged into questionable meetings with some suppliers by the embattled board chairperson.

She recalled that the meetings had no clear agenda apart from forcing NOCMA to endorse ready-made contracts with new suppliers without following laid out procedures.

What stood as a surprising element in all this was that in the midst of this barrage of accusations, Zamba was accorded a chance to appear before the parliamentary committee but she refused on several occasions.

Despite all corrupt allegation tendencies, President Lazarus Chakwera has never summoned or rebuked Zamba.