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| National |
| Chiefs, religious leaders demand probe on road |
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by
Mabvuto Banda, 20 April 2006
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05:13:14
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Chiefs and religious leaders in Chitipa want an investigation into how a decision was arrived at to change the initial Chinese company identified to work on the Chitipa-Karonga Road to another after President Bingu wa Mutharika performed a construction ground-breaking ceremony and assured the people that money was sourced for work to begin.
The leaders met on April 4, 2006 following a Nation story that revealed that construction has stalled because of government’s last minute decision to change contractors.
Mutharika laid a foundation stone for the Karonga/Chitipa road in December, a day before the bye-election in the district and announced that the money had been released by the African Development Bank (ADB).
But that was not true. According to Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe, the ADB would be making a decision this week on whether to allow government change to Mota-Engil, the second lowest bidder and not China Hunan Construction which had earlier won the tender.
“To tell us that the lowest bidder who was chosen cannot do a good job clearly indicates that the people who sat to select the contractor may have been corrupt and therefore deserve to be probed and subsequently prosecuted,” says a statement signed by chiefs, civil society and religious leader.
China Hunan was the lowest bidder in the contract with K5.3 billion while Mota-Engil come second best with a K7.9 billion bid followed by an Italian company.
Information Minister and government spokesperson Patricia Kaliati on Wednesday assured the people of Chitipa that the road is going to be constructed no matter what is said.
“It’s fair and good if they [the leaders] blame the UDF and MCP for failing to give them the road but not President Mutharika…Whether they are being sent to say what they are saying we will still construct the road after the rains stop,” she said.
“The people of Chitipa should also know that it is not only their road which government is trying to work on. There are many other projects,” Kaliati said.
Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe insists that government wants another company with a realistic budget to avoid a repeat of the Golomoti-Salima Road that was abandoned by contractors who won the contract because their bid was the lowest.
In the statement, the leaders accuse Mutharika of cheating them by going ahead with the ground-breaking ceremony when he knew that the ADB had not released any funds for the road.
“The Office of the President and Cabinet should have advised the President that it was premature to conduct the ground-breaking ceremony before the funds are in…Otherwise the ceremony was a dummy with no significance at all,” reads the statement.
It says failure by Mutharika’s administration, and former presidents Muluzi and late Dr Banda to construct the Karonga-Chitipa Road are a manifestation of how majority rule exploits the minority.
“We feel this is a clear manifestation of how governments of majority rule can exploit, marginalise and ridicule the minority. This is contrary to the principle of majority rule and minority rights,” reads the statement in part.
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