…negotiates K1.5 trillion fuel, fertiliser deals single handedly
…K2.3 billion worth of invoices issued without any fuel delivery
…Option Malawi getting payments for OPTCOIN Accounting PTY limited
It is well-known that Secretary to the President and Cabinet Colleen Zamba is more powerful than President Lazarus Chakwera and that the President cannot fire her. The Investigator Magazine can now reveal that while Zamba can be ably christened the Godmother of Corruption in Malawi, her puppet boss, President Chakwera, is the godfather—they together form an alliance to fleece Malawi coffers.
President Chakwera, Zamba, Transport Minister Jacob Hara and Agriculture Minister Sam Kawale are orchestrating another K1.5 trillion fuel and fertiliser deals that will be paid in Malawi to two companies, Forex bureau in the case of the fake Sheikh of Dubai and to OptCoin Accountancy- though mysteriously the money gets into Option Malawi account at Standard Bank, which is then transferred into a personal account and cashed by an associate of the four in South Africa.
The deals are part of desperate enrichment and campaign financing, which has been left to Zamba, who has powers across all government departments. The cash-strapped administration will borrow the funds to pay for the commodities that have not been delivered.
SPC Zamba singlehandedly negotiates MOU with fake Dubai Company
Government procurement is done by Procurement committees in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA), and there is no spelt role that Secretary to the President and Cabinet can negotiate any deal on behalf of the government.
Well, SPC Zamba just did that. A signed MOU document between the fake Office of the H.H. Sheikh Ahmed Al-Qassimi and Zamba on behalf of Malawi makes sad reading about how the woman entrusted to protect public resources is at the helm of corruption.
“Whereas The Office of the President of Malawi is willing to cooperate with the UAE partner, the Office of H.H. Sheikh Ahmed Al-Qassimi on the area of Foreign Direct Investments into Malawi,” reads the agreement riddled with errors that would sell the country to the lowest bidder.
According to a retired OPC official we consulted, foreign direct investment is the domain of the Ministry of Trade and the Malawi Trade and Investment Centre (MITC), and nowhere in the world would the Head of Public Service sign such an agreement.
“Government can’t sign an agreement without proper consultation, including the approval of the Attorney General. She would not be the one to sign but the Minister of Trade. The most bizarre thing is the Government signed partnership with a company, not the Government of the UAE. Everything to it points to be bogus, fake and pure theft,” charged a Foreign Trade expert.
The agreement says the cooperation will be through Banking (a domain of the Reserve Bank), Mining and Natural Resources (already part of the cartel company, which has been granted a license), Infrastructure development in relation to railways and roads, energy projects including renewables, and Smart meters (a likely entry point for another corrupt deal).
In agriculture, the deal speaks of value chains and developing the fertiliser sector (not supply) and adds Tourism Development and Asset digitisation.
“The deal was crafted with corrupt intent. Having been signed by the wrong party but powerful person in government tells you the sectors that are to be invaded through this fake agreement,” charged a legal expert we gave copies to examine.
Zamba has recruited and placed her errand boys in all key MDAs where the government issues huge contracts and seems now to have Minister of Transport Jacob Hara and his Agriculture counterpart Sam Kawale in her pockets.
Surprisingly, the FDI agreement has turned into a vendor agreement where fuel (not mentioned) and fertiliser supply are urgent matters. Zamba wants the fake Dubai royal to supply both fertiliser and fuel- of course- after getting cash first.
MOU done, Al-Qassmi gets fuel, fertiliser contracts
President Chakwera has reduced the once revered OPC into a crime centre but with a childish approach that will have its former occupants like Justin Malewezi turn in their graves, as criminals, not decent human beings, are running the office.
The low IQ in doing deals is well exposed, as contrary to the signed agreement, Al Qassmi writes two letters of expression of interest- the first to the National Oil Company of Malawi (NOCMA) to supply 250,000 mt of fuel and another to the Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund (SFFRFM) to supply 600,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser.
The Sheikh was to be paid 120% of contract value
In a letter dated 27 May 2024, Richard Chikunkhuzeni, SFFRFM CEO, referred to a letter dated 9 May 2024, which shows that the original expression of interest was to include a 120% payment cover for the commodity, which would have cost the government K1.1 trillion.
“We would like to inform you that SFFRFM has received a revised offer from the Office of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Al-Qassimi to supply 600,000 tonnes of fertiliser (300,000 tonnes Urea: 300,000 tonnes NPK). The revised term sheet has reduced the cash cover requirement from 120% to 100% as per attached email correspondence,” writes Chikunkhuzeni, who has been at the centre of all fertiliser procurement scandals with dubious suppliers.
Chikunkhuzeni tells the Secretary for Agriculture that the removal of the 20% would cost the bag K65,000 lower than the K80,000 on the market and adds the catch that has become the real explanation of these fake deals, “The transaction will also help to ease the country’s forex burden as the payment to the supplier will be in Malawi kwacha.”
The East Bridge Estates deal owned by fugitive Paul Mphwiyo was first allocated 600,000 tonnes to be supplied in the lots of 25,000 tons and paid in Malawi kwacha. Agriculture Minister Sam Kawale defended the fake deal with an Israel national that Malawians fronted. They had no capacity but promised President Chakwera 5,000 tonnes of fertiliser for each delivery, and they would liquidate it through proxy companies set up by MCP functionaries, according to a recorded boasting by the East Bridge Directors.
While it could not be established if the current fake company whose payment will be made in Malawi has met President Chakwera, like the East Bridge team and Nendongo Namibian suppliers, the stark similarities and the push by Zamba, Ministry of Agriculture, and SFFRFM point at Chakwera’s involvement in this corrupt deal.
“As stated above, one of the condition of the expression of interest is the payment of 100% cash cover in advance into an escrow account at Standard Bank in Malawi for each consignment of 25000 metric tonnes which will translate to around K32.5 billion per consignment. The SFFRFM does not currently have these huge cash cover requirements,” reads Chikunkhuzeni letter to the Ministry of Agriculture.
Public procurement laws do not provide cash advance payments for non-performed contracts. OPC’s perpetuation of this illegal arrangement should raise concerns about the safety of public finances under President Chakwera.
According to senior officials in the Ministry of Agriculture, at the behest of Zamba and Kawale, the Ministry approved the bizarre arrangement to pay an advance for undelivered commodities in a letter dated 19 August 2024, referenced as MOA/SEEFRM/HH/07-24/01, to the Director General of Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA).
“We are in an emergency situation demanding collaborated efforts to avert it. The Ministry would like to procure the much affordable fertiliser from Sheikh Al-Qassimi which will be paid in Malawi kwacha,” writes Chikunkhudzeni attempting to use the current food shortages to justify the thievery.
“It is sad to see the public service being used to exploit the current food shortage, which needs solutions now. There is no emergency in annual procurement of fertilisers, this is a deal to steal public money and use hunger as an excuse. These ladies (Zamba and Mloza Banda) pretend to be very religious, proclaiming the bible in one hand and attempting to fleece the public coffers with impunity,” said a Treasury official who said the level of bad deals under Chakwera was alarming.
The Zamba’s advance payment deals extend to the Ministry of Transport which suddenly is now involved in fuel procurement, another first in the history of Malawi public service and government procurement system.
Minister Hara identifies supplier who has no single litre of fuel
President Chakwera’s Ministers are now usurping the procurement laws and committees that they are now soliciting expressions of interests and writing procurement letters, a grossly illegal, unusual and corrupt act that would make any decent public servant shudder.
The last time Kawale and Jacob Hara type of Ministers were involved in procurements in Ministries was when the late Sam Mpasu, as a Minister of Education, single-handedly procured books for the education sector. But Hara just signed and ordered fuel from a company he can only explain how he came to know of, and invoices worth close to US$1 million (K2.3 billion) were submitted for payment before any single litre of fuel was paid.
The worst part is that Hara’s supplier, whom Zamba wants to be paid “urgently,” has never owned or sold a single litre of fuel, just like the fake Sheikh of Dubai.
G.E.T Global ltd had six-thousand-kwacha worth assets in 2023
Like other scams of Bridgin Foundation, fertiliser from the butchery and East Bridge, the main player over the Transport Ministry fuel deal is a London-registered company, G.E.T Global Ltd, a family business owned by Roy Miller and Jullie Miller in 2022.
The Investigator Magazine can report that while the company has invoiced and claimed almost K2.3 billion in unsupplied fuel, according to its filings at the company house, it only has assets worth GBP2.00 or K6,000 (six thousand kwacha) as reported in 2023.
The company has never owned or traded a single litre of fuel and is reported as dormant, meaning it has not been doing business at all. Malawi’s strange business seems to be the first one since its inception.
But this is the company Malawi’s Honourable Minister of Transport Jacob Hara, a pastor, wants paid K2.3 billion of taxpayers’ money without any due diligence. Just like the butchery saga, G.E.T. is a vendor and is using another vendor to access fuel, making the whole transaction suspicious, expensive, and outright intent to defraud the Malawi Government.
Minister Hara’s letter, highly unusual for the political head of an MDA, appoints NOCMA as its agent to handle its fuel, and despite all the documents from the alleged Roy Miller of dormant G.E.T Global Ltd to him, he wants payment done in Malawi kwacha at an account of one OptCoin Malawi.
The Minister even has the account number for the highly suspicious company;
“Collect sales and all payments to OptiCoin Malawi, Standard Bank, City Centre Branch, Kwacha Account number 9100006975205,” writes Hara in a letter dated 27 August 2024 addressed to the Board Chairperson of NOCMA who Zamba is.
Zamba, who must have supervised Hara’s drafting, quickly signed the letter on top, “CEO NOCMA, please expedite urgently,” but signed with the wrong date. Hara’s typed date is 27 August 2024, and Zamba gave her instructions a day earlier, on 26 August 2024.
According to experts, the challenge with fraud is that if you are not sophisticated enough, you make basic errors. Not only did Zamba sign on the wrong date, but Hara’s communications have four different companies that are apparently processing 40,000 metric tonnes of fuel.
The Investigator Magazine has concluded that Zamba, Hara, and Zamba’s agent are interested in OptCoin Malawi, which was registered on 21 July 2023 as OptCoin Accounting (PTY) Limited. Still, the account Hara stated in his letter at Standard Bank, when checked, belongs to Option Malawi and is run as a private business account.
We have sought clarification from Standard Bank how payments for OptCoin Malawi will be remitted into Option Malawi which has been traced to be actively withdrawn from South Africa by a Zamba associate.
Apart from Option Malawi or Optcoin Malawi, Hara’s letter introduces Inter Fuel Africa as the management company for the supplier, in this case the dormant G.E.T Global Ltd. However, the confirmation order does not mention Inter Fuel Africa, a South African-based company, but another company—Season Africa, which identifies itself as a vendor in Mozambique for a well-known fuel supplier, Trafigura.
We have sought clarification from Standard Bank how payments for OptCoin Malawi will be remitted into Option Malawi which has been traced to be withdrawn in South Africa by a Zamba associate.
Apart from Option Malawi or Optcoin Malawi, Hara’s letter introduces Inter Fuel Africa as management company for the supplier, in this case the dormant G.E.T Global Ltd but the confirmation order does not mention Inter Fuel Africa, a South African based company, but another company- Season Africa which identifies itself as a vendor in Mozambique for a well known fuel supplier Trafigura.
To make our readers understand how this web of deceit is being framed by the axis of Zamba, Hara and NOCMA, we hereby repeat this confusing information in bullet point:
1. Minister Hara, illegally identifies G.E.T Global Ltd, a dormant company with assets worth K6000.00
2. The Minister writes to SPC Zamba who approves urgently that the deal should proceed.
3. But Minister Hara has an account number for OptCoin Malawi, which is not listed in the alleged suppliers’ letters. This is a serious anomaly as to who owns the account, how the Minister got it, and how it is related to G.E.T Global Ltd. of London.
4. G.E.T Global Ltd says Inter Africa Fuel is its fuel management company in Mozambique
5. However, the order confirmation to G.E.T. confusingly comes from Seasons Africa, which claims to represent supplier Trafigura, which has supplied NOCMA before.
The big question is why four foreign institutions are involved in the simple procurement of fuel that can be sourced directly from reputed suppliers. This question remains unanswered, just like the relationship between G.E.T Global Ltd. and the person who identified it and contracted it to supply the commodity it does not have.
Already reported in our previous story, NOCMA already uses high-priced suppliers who pay loyalties to government officials.
Alarmingly, G.E.T, in its letter to Hara on 4 September 2024, claims that its bankers have already paid for the 40,000 mt tonnes of fuel through emergency arrangements. Again, the word “emergency” is used in the deal to justify the cutting of all procurement corners.
The details and accounts of all those involved will be published in part 2.
Part 2: Sharing the loot and the cover-up – Al-Qassami was shortlisted by NOCMA in a restricted tender call. Following Option Malawi, the arrest of a Secretary at NOCMA and Board members scared of being arrested for Zambia’s sins. This Saturday, 28 September 2024
