900 000 yet to get lean season relief maize
At least 900 000 food insecure Malawians, about 46 percent of the targeted population, are yet to receive relief maize due to Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) logistical hiccups.
Dodma spokesperson Chipiliro Khamula in written response confirmed that Dodma is still distributing maize in 15 districts, which contradicts President Lazarus Chakwera’s claim in his State of the Nation Address delivered in Parliament last week that government had reached out to all targeted beneficiaries.
Said the President: “Although the country recorded 3.8 million metric tonnes [MT] of maize in the 2019/20 growing season, the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee estimated that 2.6 million people would be food insecure in the 2020/21 lean season. I am pleased to report that government, with support from partners, provided relief items to the affected households.”
However, the reality is that over a month after the deadline, Dodma is yet to reach out about 928 000 beneficiaries, missing the March deadline for lean period maize distribution programme.
According to Khamula, the programme targeted 451 580 beneficiary households (2 032 109 affected population) in 28 districts.
He said: “Af fected population in seven districts have been provided with cash transfers while provision of relief maize has been finalised in six districts, reaching out to a total of 245 251 beneficiary households (which is approximately 1 103 630 affected population).”
Last year the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee ( M v a c ) estimated that 2.6 million people would be food insecure in the 2020/21 lean season and maize was allocated for distribution between December 2020 and March 2021.
The affected districts, according to Khamula, are Nkhotakota, Mchinji, Ntcheu, Nkhata Bay, Mzimba, Machinga, Karonga, Chitipa, Mwanza, Mulanje, Thyolo, Rumphi, Chiradzulu, Dowa and Kasungu.
“So far, a total of 3725MT is being dispatched which is equivalent to 74 500 beneficiary households (335 250 affected population) out of 206 329 beneficiary households (928 479) affected population) in these remaining 15 districts,” he added.
The cause of the delay, The Nation has learnt, is due to the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority’s (PPDA) failure to grant an approval to Dodma to contract some identified suppliers of transport services, despite government releasing K1 billion for logistical purposes.
Khamula confirmed that they have not received a no objection from PPDA to proceed with contractual agreements with suppliers.
Last year, Dodma issued a tender notice Dodma/trans/ IPDC/2020/2021/01 calling for suppliers to provide transport services for relief maize items– and a total of 16 suppliers were shortlisted as successful bidders and submitted to PPDA–but the approval for the award of contracts has not been granted.
When asked why it has not approved the supply contract, PPDA public relations officer Grace Thipa said they were still checking their records.
However, a source close to these transactions said PPDA has issues with the manner the pricing was done where all suppliers were given the same rate despite variations in their quotes. This, according to the source, has been questioned and Dodma was asked to rework on the matter.
Dodma has since resorted to using government vehicles which are not enough for the exercise, leading to the delay in the presence of K1 billion allocated specifically for transportation of the relief maize.
