Lilongwe District Commissioner Lawford Palani has advised a group calling itself Mbadwa Zokhudzidwa to postpone their planned demonstrations against Ministry of Agriculture and Paramount Holdings Limited over alleged corruption pertaining to a fertiliser supply contract.

The demonstrations are scheduled for Friday this week.

A notification from the group to Lilongwe district commissioner (DC) alleged that the Ministry of Agriculture did not follow procedure in awarding a contract to Paramount Holdings Limited to supply fertiliser hence the planned demonstrations.

But a response from the DC to the group dated October 11, 2022 gave some recommendations to the group advising them to explore alternatives before they can go ahead with the demonstrations.

The group has been asked to engage with the Ministry of Agriculture and other concerned parties so that they exhaust the procedure of contact and dialogue. They have also been asked for clarification on the salient issues that they wish to be addressed by the authorities.

The DC’s response further recommends: “Using the whistleblowing strategy by giving the Anti-Corruption Bureau necessary information that it can analyse in order to kick-start investigations into the matter raised.”

Source:NPL