AIP thieves still free

Three truck drivers are among those who have been prosecuted for charges related to theft in the just-ended Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) materials. But their sentence has sparked criticism from some quarters, because the people who sent them on the errands are scot-free. 

In a related development, police transferred Chikwawa Police Station officer-in-charge Jane Mandala immediately after instituting investigations into trucks and fertiliser the law enforcers in the district impounded, a move some critics described as suspicious.

According to police records, about 40 cases  in relation to AIP were reported across the country .

One such case involves 913 bags of assorted AIP fertiliser which police impounded from two trucks at Kamuzu Bridge in Chikwawa on December 2 last year.

The fertiliser was being transported from Ngabu, heading towards Blantyre and drivers of the trucks declined to reveal the owners of the fertiliser, and where they were going to deliver it.

Interestingly, Ministry of Agriculture has also not shown interest to ensure that those who hired the trucks are brought to book.

Police went ahead to charge the drivers with an offence of being found in possession of property suspected to have been stolen or unlawfully obtained.

The three—Luke Majawa, 39, of Mtinkhe Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Nazombe, Phalombe; Kawaza Joe Dola, 41, from Chisungwi Village, T/A Ndamera, Nsanje and Patrick White, 40, of Thole Village, T/A Malemia, Nsanje—pleaded not guilty, prompting the State to parade four witnesses against them.

Chikwawa first grade magistrate Gladstone Chilundu found the drivers guilty of the offence. He convicted and ordered them to pay a K200 000 fine each or in default serve 12-month.

One truck registration CK 7554, belonging to H. Mahomed of Private Bag 37, Nsanje, carried 130 bags of Urea and 170 bags of NPK for Agora, Kulima Gold and Yara. The other truck registration MJ 8242 towing a trailer registration SA 6231, owned by A. H. K. Haulage of Limbe, had 613 bags of assorted fertiliser, according to two documents police seized from the drivers, which Weekend Nation has seen.

The documents, dated December 1 2020, were signed by E. Kamanga on behalf of Katsire Trading, P. O. Box 38, Ngabu, Chikwawa for the attention of Branch Manager, Katsire Trading in Blantyre.

While one document had complete information such as the number of bags, driver’s name, vehicle registration number, the names of people delivering and receiving, the other record sheet only indicated the number of bags carried.

The failure by police and the ministry to pursue the matter and expose the real culprits—those who hired the trucks—has infuriated agriculture experts and civil society organisations (CSOs) who are demanding a fresh probe into the matter.

Ministry of Agriculture spokesperson Gracian Lungu pushed the blame on Ministry of Homeland Security, saying AIP was implemented by several stakeholders and his ministry left all issues to do with security in the hands of police.

But national police spokesperson James Kadadzera while asking for more time to check for the information on the matter, referred Weekend Nation to Southern Region police spokesperson Ramsy Mushani, whom he said was better placed to comment on the Chikwawa case.

But Mushani said police could not go beyond what they did because the accused people “chose to exercise their right to remain silent” and police failed to extract any information from them.

Public relations officer for Chikwawa Police Station Dickson Matemba said he was not aware whether the law enforcers interrogated the matter further and brought the culprits to book.

“People have a right to remain silent,” he said.

According to him, four people were paraded as witnesses. These were a Ministry of Agriculture officer for AIP, two police officers who were intercepted the trucks at Kamuzu Bridge and the case investigator.

In a related move aimed at arresting deforestation and the illegal charcoal trade in the country, Ministry of Forestry and Natural Resources has been impounding trucks transporting charcoal and requesting the owners of the trucks to go to the ministry and clear themselves from the illegal business.  Police had similar leads which they could have used to net the real owners of the AIP contraband.

National Anti-Corruption Alliance chairperson Moses Mkandawire said what happened in the Chikwawa incident is what “we have always been preaching against, that corruption is institutionalised in the country. There is a lot of impunity”.

Mkandawire said the law enforcers failed to deliver justice because the drivers were mere conduits while real culprits were left scot-free.

“That is why we are failing to address corruption in this country, because we are just scratching the surface, without going deeper to uproot the architects of the rot.

“This matter confirms to us that those in authority are the ones perpetrating corruption and defrauding our government… As human rights bodies, we will still pursue this matter until the culprits are brought to book because we know it was just scratched on the surface,” said Mkandawire, who is also executive director of the Church and Society of the Church of Central African Presbyterian Livingstonia Synod.

He also wondered why police transferred Chikwawa Police Station officer-in-charge immediately after instituting investigations into the impounded trucks.

“That is why we have an interest in this matter. We want to reach to the bottom of the matter and expose the main actors. Actually, we were fortunate to have the trucks intercepted. Now, consider how many similar incidents occurred elsewhere?”

On his part, Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) chairperson Gift Trapence expressed surprise and suspicion that the police failed to thoroughly probe the issue.

“Are they shielding politically connected individuals who were behind the AIP mess and secretly preventing poor Malawians from accessing cheap fertiliser and other inputs?

“HRDC is demanding the police to further probe this issue and bring to book those who were behind the smuggling of the fertiliser. We will ensure justice is done and those behind it face the law, not just penalising the drivers,” he said.

Redemption of the low-cost inputs in the K140.2 billion AIP closed on February 20 with 3 455 437 smallholder farmers accessing the inputs, against the targeted 3 788 105.

About 345 710.20 metric tonnes (MT) of fertiliser (comprising 172 848.10 MT of NPK and 172 862.10 MT of Urea) against the target of 378 810 MT was sold, representing a redemption rate of about 91 percent. In total, some 6 910 873 bags of fertilisers were accessed by farming households.