Malawi

Malawi Parliament pushes for dissolution of MERA Board

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Natural Resources Committee Chairperson Welani Chilenga

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—The battle between Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) Board and the National Oil Company of Malawi (NOCMA) has turned ugly as Parliament has now adopted the Natural Resources Committee report that seeks the dissolution of International Haulage Broker – IHB and the MERA Board.

MERA and NOCMA are fighting over awarding of fuel contracts and fuel transportation systems, a scenario that is threatening fuel supply in the coming months the country’s reserves has fuel that can only take the country to June 30.

In it’s recommendations, the committee under the leadership of Welani Chilenga wants the MERA Board dissolved saying it is working for the interest of some government officials.

The report also want IHB, a local firm that coordinates fuel transportation in the country dissolved saying it is duping Malawians through 5% it gets from every litre of fuel bought on the station.

Chilenga said MERA and IHB should be investigated.

Budget and Finance committee also made similar recommendations, but Gladys Ganda, Chairperson of the committee, who is also Member of Parliament for Nsanje Lalanje, has called on the President not to fire the MERA Board as proposed by the Committee earlier.

According to Ganda, there is need to investigate NOCMA too before recommending the firing of Mera Board.

Ganda who also worked with Nocma as Deputy CEO told journalists that Nocma should be investigated on the way it is identifying suppliers saying Lake Oil which Nocma has contracted has been declared bankrupt in Tanzania.

Maneno Chimulala

I am a journalist, educator, and activist with passion for telling stories about social justice, sports and political issues. I graduated from Mzuzu University. I started my career at the Maravi Post online publication in 2012 as an intern while in college. Upon graduating from Mzuzu University I was offered a job as Sports Reporter because of my background as a goalkeeper and rose to the position of sub editor. I also had a short stint with Nyasatimes, Malawi Punch and Malawi Digest. Over the past seven years, I have worked intimately with rural organizations and communities in Malawi on human rights, girl child education and grassroots development projects. With an academic background in education, I also volunteer as male champion for girls’ education under Girls Empowerment Networks (GENET) in Malawi’s South West Education Division (SWED).