| Work Detail |
CSOs maintain demand for Muhara to be probed over K64m OPC furniture
Civil society organisations (CSOs) have maintained their demand for the Chief Secretary to Government Lloyd Muhara to step down over allegations of abuse of office and that teh grfat-busting body should investigate him despite government suspending indefinitely the refurbishment of Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) at Capital in Lilongwe.
A statement made available to Nyasa Times by Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Nicholas Dausi on Wednesday said K64 million contract was for refurbishment of the OPC complex, including the off ice of the President which he said has not been refurbished since 1975 and there is need to improve the working environment in thesoffices.
“A decision was made to refurbish the Office of the President and Cabinet complex building by replacing old carpets, ceiling boards, painting the walls and installing CCTV cameras for security of government resources including equipment and replacing the worn-out desks and chairs,” Dausi said.
Dausi, who is also government spokesman, said the planned works have since been suspended indefinitely.
But the CSOs, led by Centre for Human Rights and Rehabiliation (CHRR) and Centre for Development of People (Cedep), said their demand for Muhara to step aide pending investigations.
“ Our demad still stands, we want to understand how the whole [procurement] process went,” said rights activist Billy Mayaya.
Mayaya said the procurement of furniture issue puts to question the President’s credibility in providing oversight functions in his own office.
The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) should come in to probe the Chief Secretary Muhara,” he said.
CHRR executive director Timothy Mtambo said the issues is of national interest as Muhara is a public official.
He said government should not be shielding culprits.
Meanwhile, the CSOs have question the statement by Dausi that refurbishment of Muhara’s office is long overdue and necessary, because it has not been rehabilitated since 1975.
Former State House chief of staff Ken Zikhale N’goma disclosed that during former president the late Bingu wa Mutharika’s era, the offices were refurbished in 2004 to 2006.
According to Dausi, funding for the refurbishment exercise was sourced from the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development.
But sources indicated to Nyasa Times that Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) paid for the planned works.
“The repairs and refurbishment were to cover the Office of the President and Cabinet building at Capitol Hill in Lilongwe. Due to the amount of money involved, Government resorted to carrying out the work in phases,” Dausi said.
Dausi said company awarded the contract is EQWIP Interior Works which Nyasa Times understands is owned by Edwin Kalirani.
“It was planned to start repairing and refurbishing one wing of the Office of the President and Cabinet building which comprises several rooms including the Chief Secretary’s Office,” said Dausi.
Macra also reportedly awarded Custom Furniture and EQWIP a K223 million contract to furnish telecentres, a project which the parastatal uses to syphon funds and channel to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). |
