LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) deputy chief executive officer Helen Buluma has been given seven days to respond to allegations that the institution is draining K3.9 million monthly on her security detail by the Office of the Ombudsman.
The action by the Ombudsman follows a complaint from Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) that Buluma and her residence are guarded by armed police officers and private bodyguards outside her entitlement.
In a letter Reference OMB-LL-2021-357, dated November 22, 2021 titled ‘Investigations Into Allegations of Abuse of Office and Acts of Maladministration by Nocma deputy CEO, Ombudsman Grace Malera instructs Buluma to respond to the allegations by December 2 2021.
The copy of Nocma employees’ Conditions of Service, the State oil firm’s CEO and the deputy are entitled to a day security guard and two night security guards plus an alarm or rapid response system.
Reads the Ombudsman’s letter, in part: “ In particular, you are to respond to the issues relating to allegations in relation to abuse of office by yourself as deputy chief executive officer in getting security detail not in line with your entitlements, provide information and supporting documents relating to your entitlement where the issue of security for your person and your residence is concerned,
“lf, indeed, you are getting security details as per the allegations in the complaint, explain the authority under which the same benefit is being accorded to you and, if, indeed, you ore getting security details as per the allegations, provide information as to how such services are being paid for—whether the services are being charged to Nocma and why?”
However Buluma could not be reached on her mobile phone and she also did not respond to any question.
BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-Pressure is growing after revelations that National Oil Company of Malawi (NOCMA) acting Chief Executive Officer Helen Buluma is blowing MK3.9 million monthly only on security.
This has forced Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to express concerns on the matter with the Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI), demanding contract and conditions of service from Secretary to President and Cabinet Zangazanga Chikhosi.
In a letter addressed to Chikhosi on his capacity as Chairperson for the Board for NOCMA, CDEDI, executive Director Sylvester Namiwa says his organisation is making the demand on behalf of Malawians.
“We are making the demand on behalf of taxpayers in Malawi, who have the right to know and get access to such information in line with the Access to Information Act of 2018.
Namiwa in a letter also highlighted that it does not need any emphasis that the Deputy CEO is a public officer, who is supposed to be accountable to the general public.
Chikhosi has since been given seven (7) days to make the requested information available, in line with the stated constitutional provision and Act, failing which CDEDI will not hesitate to commence legal proceedings against your office, should this request be ignored.
Namiwa fuether pointed out that the demand has been necessitated by the recent media reports, which indicated that Madam Buluma is currently spending MK3.9 million every month on her security which CDEDI believes is an outright abuse of public funds.
“It is against this background that the CDEDI, would like to be furnished with the requested information, in order to ascertain whether or not Madam Buluma’s actions are within the contractual agreement with her employer, the NOCMA,”
While confirming the bloated security some government officials privy to this publication say the security has been necessitated looking at the fact that Buluma is a state witness in a case involving senior government officials on fuel supply contract scam.
The OPC has since confirmed receipt of the letter from CDEDI.
CDEDI demands are the same as those of Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) who are also of the common view that Buluma’s treatment is a gross abuse of public office.
Over the weekend The Nation Newspaper reported that through the bloated security, Buluma is draining MK3.9 million monthly to pay for five police officers and their three guns.
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The country’s Human Right Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has written the office of the Ombudsman asking it to institute investigations into allegations that the deputy chief executive officer Helen Buluma for the National Oil Company of Malaŵi (NOCMA) is being guarded by armed police officers who are being paid using public money.
According to the letter made available to The Maravi Post signed by Gift Trapence, HRDC Chairperson says Malawians deserve to know the truth about the matter as it borders on abuse of office.
The Ombudsman Grace Malera has confirmed receiving the letter but said they will investigate the matter if they see that there is merit in doing so.
NOCMA has bloated police security for its deputy chief executive officer (CEO) Helen Buluma, draining MK3.9 million monthly to pay for five police officers and their three guns.
National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) has bloated police security for its deputy chief executive officer (CEO) Helen Buluma, draining MK3.9 million monthly to pay for five police officers and their three guns.
Police have confirmed that Nocma—a State-owned company set up with taxpayers’ money—requested to hire their services that include four police officers with two guns to guard Buluma’s residence and a gun-totting close protection officer (CPO) to babysit her daily.
A CPO or personal bodyguard is reserved for senior officials such as judges, ministers and their deputies, Malawi Electoral Commission commissioners, Speaker of the National Assembly and Leader of Opposition, according to police sources.
National Police spokesperson James Kadadzera, in an interview, said: “Nocma requested for the services of our officers just like how any person can come to our offices and request to hire officers for a wedding event or anything like that.”
According to a copy of Conditions of Service for Nocma employees, the State oil firm’s CEO and the deputy are entitled to a day security guard and two night security guards plus an alarm or rapid response system.
But a payment request for June 2021, that we have seen, show that the firm’s deputy boss’ security detail is way beyond her entitlement, gobbling nearly half—MK3.9 million—of the institution’s monthly police security expenses.
The police had, on June 18 2021, written Nocma to honour the payments.
According to an internal Nocma loose minute, dated June 21, 2021 for payment for police officers guarding Nocma strategic fuel reserves in Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu as well as the parastatal’s head office and the deputy chief executive officer’s residence, the total for that month was MK7 882 000.
Of this amount, MK3.9 million is for Buluma’s personal security detail broken down as follows:
MK2.4 million for four police officers guarding her residence, with each officer getting MK20 000 per day for 30 days;
MK600 000 service charge for two guns calculated at K10 000 each for 30 days;
MK600 000 for her CPO for 30 days charged at MK20 000 a day;
MK300 000 as service charge for CPO’s gun at MK10 000 per day for 30 days.
Other Nocma police security payments for June included K800 000 as allowance for officers guarding Lilongwe depot; MK600 0000 for officers guarding Blantyre depot and the same amount for Mzuzu depot.
There was also MK1.7 million payments for police manning Nocma headquarters in Lilongwe, according to the loose minute.
In a payment voucher Ref.No. Nocma/NBM/2021/188, dated July 5 2021, Nocma processed the payment from its current account number 1000279761 to Police Mobile Headquarters Services Welfare Account 5460000003331 at Ecobank.
Our sources at Nocma and G4S Company corroborated that the private security company is still offering its services at Buluma’s residence—with one private guard during the day and two at night.
Weekend Nation investigations have, however, established that the Nocma board neither discussed nor approved the beefing up of her security.
Some board members we spoke to corroborated that the issue of the deputy CEO’s security had not been discussed at any point, adding that the board is not involved in operations of the company.
Nocma board chairperson Zanga-Zanga Chikhosi, who is also Secretary to the President and Cabinet, is yet to respond to our questionnaire sent a month ago on who authorised the expenditure for police security.
When asked whether the Department of Statutory Corporations was aware of the high profile security for Buluma, the department’s spokesperson Headwick Banda refused to respond and referred this paper back to Nocma.
In an interview on Thursday last week, Banda maintained that Nocma was better placed to explain what necessitated the beefing up of security for Buluma.
However, upon learning of our inquiry into the matter, Buluma reached out to us, claiming that her life is in danger being an Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) witness and whistle-blower in the fuel procurement saga.
She did not indicate where the alleged threats were coming from and whether she informed the ACB about the need for police security. There is also no record at any police station or unit that Buluma lodged a complaint that she was being threatened, according to Kadadzera on Tuesday.
The police spokesperson also indicated that Nocma was still hiring the five officers for its deputy CEO as of this week.
Sources at Nocma also corroborated of the status quo.
According to a police source, had Buluma lodged a complaint with police that she was being threatened, the police would have been offering the protection for free.
“Police service is for free for everyone, especially for people whose lives are in danger, but if a citizen wishes to hire our services for private services then one has to pay for it,” says officer
Our findings at ACB show that the graft-busting body is not part of the arrangement offering police protection to Buluma.
ACB director general Martha Chizuma wondered why Weekend Nationwas dragging the bureau into the matter that she described as sensitive. She nonetheless indicated that ACB is not paying for Buluma’s security.
The ACB boss, however, could not be drawn to comment on the specifics, such as whether Buluma formally complained to the bureau that she is being threatened or whether the bureau nodded to the need for police security for the witness.
“I could not get myself to respond to your questions because I don’t understand how ACB is being brought into this issue. Who is paying for the services and why are you interested in this story?”, says Chizuma:
When we formally engaged Buluma a couple of weeks ago to justify the expenditure she did not respond to our questionnaire.
The Corrupt Practices Act (CPA) penalises any person who is found to be victimising or taking any action to punish a whistle-blower.
Section 51A (5) of CPA reads: “Any person who, having knowledge that any person referred to in the section as a whistle-blower or an informer, has informed the bureau or the police of an alleged or a suspected corrupt practice, or other offence connected therewith, takes, by himself or through another person, an action of any kind to punish or victimise such whistle-blower or informer in any way shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine and to imprisonment for two years.”
National Oil Company of Malawi (NOCMA) deputy chief executive officer (CEO) Helen Buluma has been at the centre of controversies at NOCMA
BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—As Malawians are still debating shady deals happening at National Oil Company of Malawi (NOCMA), Minister of Energy Newton Kambala has blamed National institution for not being transparent in the fuel imports deals.
Kambala who said this in Parliament on Monday when presenting his ministerial response on the Natural resources committee fuel report, said the country is in this fuel import mess due to lack of transparency.
Kambala also faulted NOCMA for not responding to Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority – MERA that was recommending two new fuel import suppliers.
Kambala who further disagreed with the Natural resources committee on the recommendation that the President should fire the MERA Board said the Committee had no mandate as that mandate is with Public Appointments Committee – PAC upon conducting an inquiry into the competence of the Board.
But reacting, Werani Chilenga Chairperson of the Natural Resources Committee of Parliament said the minister was not supposed to comment on the issue, as it is being investigated by ACB.
He further said the minister is compromised as he has already taken a side on the matter.
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