Committee dates Chaponda, Transglobe
Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development George Chaponda will tomorrow appear before the joint committee of Parliament conducting an inquiry into Admarc maize procurement from neighbouring Zambia.
Co-chairperson of the committee and vice-chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee Kamlepo Kalua said yesterday that Chaponda had confirmed his presence at the meeting.
The committee summoned Chaponda following submissions from Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) and Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development that he led a delegation to Zambia to broker the maize deal where the State grain trader was expected to source 100 000 metric tonnes of maize.
“It is confirmed that we will be meeting Honourable Chaponda Wednesday morning. We are not yet done with our inquiries and with Parliament reconvening, we will have to create time to finish the exercise. Since Parliament meets at 2pm on Wednesday, the morning will be used to meet with the honourable minister,” Kalua said.
Chaponda was a no-show at a meeting earlier slated for Friday January 27 2017, claiming he received the communication late and could not travel from Blantyre to Lilongwe for the meeting.
The committee has also summoned Grain Traders Association of Malawi chairperson Grace Mijiga.
Kalua said apart from Mijiga, the committee has also summoned officials from Transglobe Produce Export Limited which allegedly offered to sell maize to Admarc at a higher price and sought Chaponda’s mediation on the matter.
