ACB probes Mardef

The amount of money may look insignificant, but the trauma is visible on the faces of the would-be-beneficiaries of a loan facility introduced by former president the late Bingu wa Mutharika in 2011 to benefit market vendors.

At a ceremony held at Sanjika Palace in 2011, Mutharika launched a loan facility to boost vendors’ small-scale businesses which were disbursed under Malawi Rural Youth and Enterprise Development Fund (Maryedf) through Malawi Rural Development Fund (Mardef).

However, our investigations have revealed that some vendors are being asked to repay a K500 000 loan which they never received, prompting the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to probe allegations of abuse of office at Mardef.

ACB officers interviewed several vendors at Kamba Market in Blantyre, to establish whether they accessed the loan facility.

The bureau’s senior public relations officer Egrita Ndala confirmed in an e-mail interview on Wednesday that the anti-graft body was investigating allegations that some officers at Mardef were collecting money from people who did not obtain the loans.

“The Anti-Corruption Bureau is investigating a complaint that some Mardef officials were collecting money for loans that were not disbursed. The investigation is not yet concluded. We will communicate the outcome of the process in due course,” said Ndala.

The ACB involvement came after some vendors complained to the graft busting body that they received notification from Maryedf to remit monthly instalments.

A document from Maryedf Southern Region office, dated March 1 2012 and titled ‘Loan Schedule Report’, shows that Chiyanjano Group of Kamba Market operates an account at Malawi Savings Bank opened on January 2 2012 and that they had received K500 000 on the same day.

According to the loan details, the group was expected to complete repayment on March 3 2013 with a monthly interest rate of 15 percent.

In an interview during the week, Simeon Masudi, a shoe repair at Kamba Market and a member of the Chiyanjano Group, confirmed that he was one of the vendors who were being asked by Maryedf to repay a loan he never received.

Masudi, who said he was among the vendors that attended the launch of the loan facility, explained that after the launch, vendors were asked to form groups and that at Kamba Market, there were 10 groups of 20 members each.

Masudi said after undergoing all the processes that included training in business skills and opening of a bank account, the Chiyanjano Group had a rude awakening when their cheque was withdrawn due to “technicalities”.

“After opening the bank accounts, nine groups received their cheques worth about K400 000. But our group was told that there was a mistake; the cheque that came was worth K1 million. They told us that it had to be returned so that we could get what others got,” he said.

He said since then, they had not received anything despite several visits to the organisation’s offices. He said they were always told to wait for their cheque.

“What surprised us was that we received a notification from them [Mardef] that we were supposed to be repaying the loan. We went there to inquire and we were told to ignore the notification,” said Masudi.

“But we were not convinced because the document was showing that K500 000 was disbursed into our account when we never received money. What happens when there is change of administration, how can we be sure that there will not be a follow-up and the new authorities will not come after us?” he wondered.

Another would-be beneficiary, Mike Beka, who runs a barber shop at the same market, confirmed to have been interviewed by ACB officers.

Beka said the way the cheque was handled was suspicious and that they were waiting for the outcome of ACB investigations to know what happened to the money that was supposed to boost their businesses.

“To others, this is little money, but for us it can make a big difference. We want to know what happened to the money we were supposed to receive which we are ironically being asked to repay,” said Beka.

He added: “We want this issue dealt with now so that we are not bothered in future. Issues of loans are very serious because we have seen people losing properties.”

Mardef  public relations officer Isaac Mbekeani confirmed during the week that the bureau was investigating some transactions.

Mbekeani also confirmed that since this incident, Mardef has not disbursed loans to new groups.

Asked if the vendors’ claims were true, Mbekeani said: “This is true, but the cheque was returned because it had a discrepancy. The group was to be considered during the next loan disbursement.

“The group was told to disregard the earlier claim that it owed Mardef in July 2012 and since then nobody has ever gone there to ask for loan repayments. ACB officers interviewed the credit officer and his supervisor on the matter.”

Mbekeani said so far, most loan beneficiaries were repaying their loans and that Mardef officers are in all districts following up on all outstanding loans.