FND national coordinator Fryson Chodzi along side his national chair Bright Kampaundi addresing the news conference
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-One of the country’s civil society organisation, Forum for National Development (FND) on Thursday demanded exclusive probing businessman Abdul Karim Batawarara who through his two companies is claiming MK53 billion from government after a contract with the Immigration Department to supply uniforms but failed to honour the deal and now demanding more than five times the agreed amount.
FND national coordinator Fryson Chodzi along side his national chair Bright Kampaundi told the news conference in the capital Lilongwe saying the grouping was equally shocked at the MK53 billion claim which, among other things, pegs a single uniform shirt for an Immigration officer at about MK60 000 and in some cases a belt at MK100 000 and gloves at MK60 000.
The grouping urged Malawi government not to relent and fight all legal actions against Batawarara in the case of ‘Uniform-gate’ scandal.
“We will not stand aside and watch. If in this case director of Immigration had not acted and the Attorney General stopping the payment to Batawarara, we believe that Malawians would have been defrauded of their taxes,” said Chonzi.
FND calls;
- The Government must not relent and fight all legal actions against Batawarara in the case of the Uniform scandal and ensure that he doesn’t get a single kwacha of our hard earned resources
- All the three arms of Government to continuously put its foot down to all claims by the purported supplier and fight with might the court claims that aim at defrauding the Malawi Government through bloated and unrealistic claims by the owner of the companies involved Mr. Abdul Karim Batawarara who has the tendency of inflating figures and making unrealistic claims.
- The Government through the Office of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets should bar and suspend all companies that are owned or related to Mr. Abdul Karim Batawarawa either as the owner or a Director from transacting with the Malawi Government until these matters are resolved.
- The ACB should probe the transaction of Abdul Batawarara Karim companies in Malawi to detect more fraud practices they were left unnoticed.
- The MRA should subject Abdul Karim Batawarara companies to a forensic audit on issues of tax compliances.
- The court of Malawi must be determined to protect government coffers and ensure that such kind of actions are dismissed which supplies deliberately act in a way that is dishonest and fraudulently.
- The CSOs and stakeholders should work and support the officials from all the three arms of Government who acts in the best interest of the country and ensure that every action whatsoever possible is done to stop people like Batawarara who aims at defrauding the people’s hard earned taxes.
FND has backed calls by the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) that the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Fiscal Police and the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA) should investigate the matter.
Top government officials in Immigration, Attorney General and Secretary to the Treasury as well as Batawarara representing his two companies Africa Commercial Agency and Reliance Trading Company, were scheduled to appear before Parliamentary
Clerk of Parliament Fiona Kalemba is reportedly stopped Public Affairs Committee (PAC) from summoning top government officials to explain queries relating to the deal purportedly because the issue is in court.
The Clerk of Parliament quoting parliamentary standing order 192 (1), states that the top government officials could not appear before the committee because the matter was in court.
The National Assembly said while it recognised PAC’s powers under the Constitution to conduct investigation, the committee should consider the subjudice rule under standing order of parliament 192.
The legal opinion observed that the inquiry which the committee intended to carry out concerned a matter which was in the Commercial Division of the High Court at Lilongwe registry.
“The case is at a point where mandatory mediation, as per court procedures, has failed and the matter is proceeding to full trial. The parties are currently waiting for the court to allocate dates. As soon as this is done, the matter will proceed,” it reads.
The legal opinion explained that one of the major issues in contention, between government and the two companies, was whether or not there was a contract between the parties and each party to this lawsuit has its own position on the matter.
“It will be difficult for the witnesses summoned to answer questions from the committee without touching on the very same issue which are to be adjudicated on by the court,” it said.
But government’s chief legal adviser, Attorney General Kalekeni Kaphale, said the matter was concluded and that Parliament Secretariat should have consulted in putting up a legal opinion issued to PAC.
According to Kaphale, he was “neither consulted” when the invitations to top public officers were done and again he was “neither consulted on the issue of subjudice.”
The government’s top lawyer also said he did not receive any invitation to appear before PAC, saying Parliament Secretariat should have been siecufic on the subjudice opinion.
In its pursuit to interrogate the deal, PAC cited Section 9 of the National Assembly (Powers and Privileges) Act which empowers the committee to summon the government officials and the directors or secretaries of Africa Commercial Agency and Reliance Trading Company.
PAC chairperson Alekeni Menyani also challenged the legal opinion, saying Section 60(3) of the Constitution which empowers his oversight committee to make inquiries overrides any parliamentary standing order.
Menyani also said PAC’s inquiry was on how the suppliers arrived at the MK53.9 billion claim in an initial MK9 billion contract.