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| National |
| Former MTL bosses demand explanation on loss |
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by
Zainah Liwanda, 10 January 2007
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06:32:42
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Privatised Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL) former management has written Press Corporation Limited (PCL) demanding a clarification on how the managers hid K2 billion loss prior the company’s privatisation.
PCL chief executive officer Matthews Chikaonda, whose group has a controlling stake in MTL, was quoted late last year as saying PCL will take to task the company’s former bosses on how the company lost over K2 billion just before privatisation,
But lawyer for the accused managers Kalekeni Kaphale said Tuesday he gave PCL seven days to clarify on what they meant that the company lost K2 billion during the transition.
According to Kaphale, the seven days elapsed and he was arranging for a meeting with his clients to chart the way forward.
“I wrote PCL but they haven’t come back to me. I gave them seven days and they expired. I have requested for a meeting with my clients to chart the way forward. I cannot just take any action on my own,” said Kaphale.
Asked whether his clients would sue, Kaphale said there are several options that can be considered.
MTL former chief executive officer Emmanuel Mahuka declined to comment, saying his group instructed Kaphale to speak on the issue.
Mahuka was quoted to have dismissed allegations that K2 billion went missing during the transition period, arguing the company’s accounts were audited and certified before the privatisation.
Chikaonda and PCL group operations executive for trade Pius Mulipa could not be reached on their mobile phones Tuesday after several attempts to find out why PCL did not respond to the letter from the former managers.
Meanwhile, a highly placed source confided Tuesday that the former managers are contemplating suing and demanding damages.
Chikaonda was quoted as saying the top managers used to run telephone bureaux whose extremely huge bills were written off as bad debts.
He said PCL would launch an investigation into the issue and bring the culprits to book.
“The management team managed to successfully conceal the losses to the extent that we were made to believe everything was in order. Had it been that we had a right picture of the situation, we would have had a second thought before venturing into the company,” Chikaonda was quoted as saying.
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