by Thom Khanje
Hell almost broke loose at Plant and Vehicle Hire Department (PVHO) offices in Lilongwe on Wednesday when Countrywide Car Hire owner Mike Mlombwa took to task chairman of the transport sub-committee for the forth-coming African Union Finance Ministers Conference Jomo Mkandawire on how a dormant car hire company belonging to a deceased person was offered a K30 million contract to provide 100 Mercedes Benz vehicles to be used by the visiting ministers during the conference next week.
It had to take onlookers to cool down the highly charged Mlombwa who confronted Mkandawire asking him why a company called Mix Car which was not registered with the Car Hire Association of Malawi and the Ministry of Tourism was given such a crucial contract.
Government is hiring the Mercs at a flat late of K30,000 a day for ten days, translating the contract amount to K30 million.
Mlombwa said in an interview that he was surprised to be told by Mkandawire that Mix Car Hire was the owner of the contract and that all other companies and individual with suitable Mercedes Benz vehicle should provide them through Mix Car Hire.
However, investigations have established that Mix Car is a dormant company whose owner Sam Malata died in 2005. The company has since then never been operational and currently does not own any vehicle.
One of the persons operating the company Happy Hora claimed in an interview that he owned the company in partnership with late Malata, although he admits that the company has not been “fully operational” except through small scale hires which he does with some personal vehicles from his home.
However, young brother to late Malawi Jana Malata, currently working for Concern World in Nkhotakota, described those who are operating the company has fraudsters, saying as far as the family is concern, the company was solely owned by his brother and has been dormant since he died.
“In any case, I should have been the one operating it but we just left it like that,” said Jana, who vowed to take legal action against those claiming ownership of the company.
Apparently, the guys behind the company are working under one of the son in-laws to President Bingu wa Mutharika and have used the state-house to bull-doze the organising committee into awarding the lucrative contract.
Mkandawire said however the company ‘s quotation, which was sourced without advertising for the tender in the media, was approved by the committee and received a “no objection” response from the Office of the Director of Public Procurement (ODPP).
Put to him that Mix Car Hire company was dormant, Mkandawire said that did not matter because the nature of the contract did not required a company to be well established to be awarded the business.
“Countrywide Car Hire may be established and have the muscle but they too don’t have Mercedes Benz’s and buses which we were looking for. Just like Mix Car Hire, they too were going to sub-hire the vehicles from individuals who have the Benz’s. They just have to talk to Mix Car Hire and provide their vehicles through them,” said Mkandawire.
Spokesperson for the ODPP Mary Mbekeani said she need more time to investigate the matter and could not immediately give her department's comment on the story.
No comments:
Post a Comment