…alleged senior officers demand up to K50 million
…say Sattar linked companies to get a contract
Internal civil war has ensued among the top Malawi Police Services bosses over a multibillion-kwacha procurement of Police uniforms and accessories, and others have contacted bidders, demanding as much as K50 million to be considered for the contract, The Investigator Magazine can reveal.
Malawi Police Service procurement has always been controversial including the US$7 million rations contract given to UK-based businessman Zuneth Sattar currently being pursued by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) which resulted in the firing of Inspector General of Police George Kainja and some senior officials.
One of the bidders, identified as Capstone Limited is said to be associated with Sattar and some Police officers told The Investigator Magazine that their colleagues have been meeting with an accountant for the company at Area 4 in Lilongwe, giving them insider information on the bids and pricing.
The Investigator Magazine has a verified list of bidders and their prices that a very senior Police officer “donated to a bidder” at K5 million.
Police need uniforms, accessories
Malawi Police Service published a procurement notice on 7 October this year, asking bidders to submit their bids by 6th November 2023 to supply different uniforms and accessories supplies for the service.
Lot 1, comprised Boots, shoes, and socks to be delivered in six months, while lot 2 specialised Caps, Hats, and Berets. Lot 3 covered Flags while Lot 4 were Cane sticks, Badges of Ranks, and Metal accessories.
The call for tenders has three further lots of Police Uniform Cloth (5), Other Uniform Accessories (6), and Belts and Sashes, making it a total of seven lots all to be delivered within six months.
Immediately after the tender was published, senior Police officers, according to suppliers have been moving office by office of the suppliers to seek “tithe” to supply the items.
The Investigator Magazine managed to source, a whole list of bids as submitted by suppliers, from one of the suppliers.
A peek at the bids
The bids, mostly in the range of K2 billion and above, reveal huge differences in pricing for the same items and mostly were submitted before devaluation which likely will be raised upwards with questions lingering if the bidding process is fair at all.
Glad Investments bid is pegged at K33, 354, 049,576 for all the lots, while Trend Caterers bid is only for Lot 1 at K5,339,195,020 and DW General Suppliers only bid Lot 3 at K309 million, Lot 5 at K10, 629, 216,000 Lot 6 at K29,611,244,800 and the final Lot 7 at K14, 913, 086, 400.
GPEC bids are Lot 1 at K3, 723, 638, 745, lot 2 K1, 471, 758,073.00 and Lot 4 bid at K 3, 053, 579, 008.05. A company called GPS has only bid for Lot 3 at K182,050,000 while Charkam Investments has brought in a bid for all the lots at K32 371 565 217.19.
Actor Import and Export wants Lot 1 at K8 131 991 250.00, Lot 2 at K 3 842 810, 750.00, Lot 3 at K162 284 500.00, Lot 4 at K12 001 189 250, while Lot 5 is bid at K3 914 982 500, Lot 6 at K8 664 589 640 and Lot 7 at K3 804 598 750.
Roma General Suppliers wants Lot 1 K 3 695 962 500, Lot 2 at K 3 124 492 428.70, Lot 5 at K4 784 072 500, Lot 6 K5 701 608 200 and Lot 7 K2 361 375 000. LEC Road Engineering and Construction Lot K5 721 920 000 and Lot 2 for K671 440 000. AKI Investment has bid for all lots and is asking for is bidding Lot 1 at K 4 432 461 250, Lot 2 at K 1 731 479 150, Lot 3 at K42 767 000 375, Lot 4 at 3 789 396 625, Lot 5 at K2 364 022 500, Lot 6 k7 740 618 000 and Lot 7 at K2 434 579 062.50.
Phonex Invest wants the 7 lots in the following order- K10 812 812.50, K3 628 528 513.15, K195 217 885, K4 285 290 543.38, K6 230 157 875, K15 764 879 025.80 and K7 251 972 093.75 respectively. A company called Trogon only submitted one bid for Lot 1 at K4 031 313 575.00. Hamia Investments wants Lot 4 at K5 599 190 000, Lot 5 at K3 707 000 000, and Lot 6 at K 7 967 800 000.00.
Siko Logistics has bid for all lots and spread from 1 to 7 as K9 000 717 187.50, K3 201 642 806.25, K8 192 903 420.63, K5 497 198 125.00, K13 910 187 375.00 and K6 398 789 906.25. SMK Trading wants Lot 4 for K 4 817 047 000, LOT 5 for K3 300 100 000.00, and LOT 6 for K7 908 340 000.00
Tamara Safety has bid for all the lots with LOT 1 pegged at K 5 407 056 250, Lot 2 at K2 952 865 795.75, Lot 3 K326 083 500, Lot 4 K7 668 592 112.50, Lot 5 at K2 824 018 250.00, Lot 6 at K12 801 893 750.00 and Lot 7 at K5 459 268 500.00. Byke Investments wants Lot 1 at K3 470 287 437.50 and Lot 7 at K3 381 722 681.25.
Sheba International has only one bid for Lot 5 at K2 811 200 000.00 while MAS International has submitted K3 813 500 000 for Lot 1, K 2 244 840 000 for Lot 2, K6 212 180 000 for Lot 4, K4 301 000 000 for LOT 5 and K10 499 600 000.00 for LOT 6.
UTESCO Ltd wants Lot 1 at K6 252 151 297.21, LOT 2 for K2 262 103 202.94, Lot 3 for K115 251 632.60, Lot 4 for K13 900 689 412.51, Lot 5 at K 8 098 300 475.20, Lot 6 at K18 849 426 812.74 and Lot 7 at K5 578 219 159.66. LE Roy Enterprise has submitted a single bid for LOT 5 at K2 296 479 000.00 while TES has bid LOT 1 only at K6 252 231 548.24. Other single bids are for Sahara General Dealers Lot 1 at K4 5559 225 000.00 and InnoTech General Dealers for the same lot at K6 746 750 000.00.
Mapeto Wholesalers have submitted Lot 2 for K1 572 557 520.00, K68 500 000 for Lot 3, K5 142 408 500 for Lot 4, while Lot 5 is pegged at K3 660 800 000, and Lot 6 is at K7 720 260 000.00. Value General Suppliers has bid K2960 404 147.60 for Lot 1, K860 201 265.50 for Lot 2, K2 324 104 682.30 for Lot 4, K4 442M941 860 for Lot 5, K5 765 299 435.20 for Lot 6 and Lot 7 for K1 421 778 994.50.
Thundu has bid some items within lots K840 545 062.50 for Lot 1, K2 437 248 532.75 for Lot 2, K130 910 817.00 for lot 3 items, K226 606 599.68 for Lot 4, K4 177 870 575 for Lot 5 and K10 571 142 405 for Lot 6 with Lot 7 pegged at K4 863 087 168.75. Choma Enterprises wants a slice of the contracts and has bid K3 105 890 000 for Lot 1, K924 078 000 for Lot 2, K15 884 775 for some items in Lot 3. K2 325 422 235 for Lot 4, K3 345 006 250 for Lot 5, K5 566 224 375 for Lot 6, and K2 435 578 125 for Lot 7.
WL Trading Ltd bid is at K2 835 853 290.47 for Lot 1, K988 435 694.89 for Lot 2, K14 910 258.47 for Lot 3, K2 352 949 960.27 for Lot 4, K2 809 708 423.88 for Lot 5, K4 589 727 152.98 for Lot 6 and Lot 7 for K3 801 871 761.61. Titan International has Lot 1 pegged at K8 700 000 750, Lot 2 for K2 475 945, Lot 4 for K7 623 035 050, Lot 5 for K4 668 000 000, Lot 6 at K11 500 500 000 and Lot 7 for K4 489 800 000.
UNI General Dealers are seeking to supply the Police uniforms and other things at K2 883 117 511.98 for Lot 1, K980 832 342.60 for Lot 2, K14 995 564.18 for Lot 3, K2 334 850 345.19 for Lot 4, K2 856 536 897.61 for Lot 5, K4 666 222 605.53 for Lot 6 and K2 978 780 440.00 for Lot 7. Creck Hardware has only submitted a single for Lot 1 at K4 089 324 750 while Merria Ltd wants Lot 6 for K3 045 310. Chriss Trading wants Lot 1 for K5 571 160 187.50, Lot 2 for K1 485 667 065.00, and Lot 5 for K2 845 325 950.00.
Genex Ltd has bid Lot 1 for K3 248 602 500, Lot 2 for K2 152 570 500, Lot 3 for K62 327 500, Lot 4 for K3 692 764 575, Lot 5 for K1 978 403 000, Lot 6 for K5 023 689 700 and Lot 7 K649 021 500. Gowa Enterprises wants Lot 1 for K2 636 919 250, K1 293 216 987.50 for Lot 2, Lot 3 at K80 117 050, Lot 6 for K7 076 424 000 and Lot 7 for K2 551 466 500.
The alleged Sattar linked Capstone Limited has bid K5 883 430 000 for Lot 1, K2 421 112 500 for Lot2, K7 547 218 000 for Lot 4, K4 587 800 000 for Lot 5, K11 339 320 000 for Lot 6 and K4 801 655 000. It is alleged Police officers have been seen frequenting Sattar’s offices in Area 4, Lilongwe. Others claim an accountant left Malawi for India after meeting Police officers. They say his name is Vipin.
The last one on the list is Hoemak bidding Lot 1 for K4 874 577 121.05, Lot 2 for K2 215 649 815.28, Lot 3 for K344 602 484.46, Lot 4 for K6 270 705 800.19, Lot 5 for K1 851 817 012.50, Lot 6 for K9 862 342 385.65 and Lot 7 for K4 936 523 200.05.
Top brass fights
The fight for “mgodi” by senior Malawi Police officers has left the institution deeply split, and other fights are emerging with another The Investigator Magazine is digging including an alleged stolen car that was parked at Area 30 until a few days ago and has been a source of the fight between two senior officials (names withheld for now).
“It is embarrassing, they are acting like agents for the businessmen. This procurement is the large one after years, everyone wants a slice,” said a Police officer who confirmed the fights at Area 30.
The Investigator Magazine would publish the winners if the procurement now muddled with allegations of bribes and potential bribes, proceeds.
