ACB assures HRDC of continued investigations of plunder of resources for Mombera University

The current stage at which Mombera University is at

* The ACB first sent the complaints to the Auditor General as a referral action to institute an investigative audit

* However, the Bureau will not continue to conduct further investigations on the refurbishment of Mzuzu University library

By Duncan Mlanjira

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has notified Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) that it is continuing with investigations which the civil society organisation raised as whistleblower on allegations of plunder of funds for the construction of Mombera University.

In the same petition made on December 1, 2020, HRDC also raised allegations that K1 billion meant for rehabilitation of Mzuzu University library was spent but “very little was done on the site”.

The letter from ACB Director General, Martha Chizuma said they “reviewed the complaints and made a referral action to the Auditor General to institute an investigative audit into the matters to inform the Bureau’s next course of action”.

“The Bureau has now received investigative audit reports from the office of the Auditor General and has completed an analysis of the findings and recommendations contained therein.

“Based on the analysis, you are informed that the Bureau will not continue to conduct further investigations on the issue of refurbishment of Mzuzu University library in accordance with Section 10 (2) (b) of the Corrupt Practices Act,” says Chizuma, while commending HRDC for sharing the information and cooperation as well as assuring HRDC of further investigations into issues of Mombera University.

In the petition, HRDC had indicated that in the 2019/2020 fiscal year during President Peter Mutharika administration, a total of K2.483 billion “was allegedly spent on Mombera University yet very little, almost negligent work was done on the site”.

Earlier this year, former Vice-President under Joyce Banda administration, Khumbo Kachali posted an analysis of his views on negligence of the Northern Region in as far as development is concerned — and one of them included Mombera University.

The piece came about when some citizenry were advocating for federal system of government, saying the country hasn’t “done much as a unitary state [and] that is why some people are agitating for other systems of government”.

“But is it a solution? We have Mzuzu University, for example, which was just a teachers training college and look, we have taken that to become a university.

“Soche Hill too was turned into University of Malawi but they later built Chancellor College and the Polytechnic. Why can’t we do the same? Mzuzu Teachers College was a starting point as a university and a place was already identified at Choma where a proper university could be built.

“I was in government when those plans were being made and we were waiting for implementation. Now we are talking about M’mbelwa University (Mombera). We are glad that the then president had plans for that university.

“They constructed the perimeter roads way back but there is nothing else up to now. The question is, are we going to have the M’mbelwa University (Mombera) taking shape?”

Kachali also highlighted that “the North does not have a road that effectively connects it to our neighbouring countries”, arguing that there is need for “road connectivity from Chitipa up to Nakonde on the Zambian side”.

“The same goes with the lakeshore road. We need to redo it. There is no way an international road can be in a pathetic state as it is today. And you feel sad when you get to Enukweni because of the poor state of the bridge and yet heavy goods trucks pass through there.”

He further said he does not see any infrastructure that “warrants Mzuzu to be a city in terms of modernization”, adding: “Even the civic offices are pathetic. If we have a foreign visitor like a head of state to be welcomed in that city, to which civic offices are you going to take that president? We don’t have a civic centre worth the name.

“And we need to have a good stadium too. The one in Mzuzu was built by prisoners. We will not forget that history. We have an airport where no bigger plane can land. Government should boost the North by bringing infrastructure that would also warrant Mzuzu to become a city.

“There are a number of issues that we need to get from Central Government and I repeat our system is unitary government. Decisions are made at Capital Hill which does not give us any opportunity to grow and to help the north or Mzuzu City to grow.

“We should not have piecemeal development. There is infrastructure, of course, that can be appreciated like the Reserve Bank of Malawi offices,” he said, while emphasizing that “people would not have been calling for a federal state if developments were evenly distributed”.

“I don’t think so. In my view I would like to see the central government come up with a deliberate policy considerate of developing Mzuzu and the North so that people there can feel that they are really part of the country.

“Otherwise people are talking of federation today, tomorrow they will be talking about cessation because they are fed up and will say let’s go this route.”

On the state of Mzuzu Stadium, Kachali was spot on as Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has banned it with effect from August 16 — from hosting official elite matches following numerous concerns from Super League clubs of the pitiable state of pitch and its amenities.

The concerns were first raised in March this year by Malawi National Council of Sports Board chairperson, Sunduzwayo Madise at the end of the Mzuzu City Half Marathon, who lamented the poor state of stadium, saying it is unfit for athletes.

He had said there was need to improve the country’s sports facilities to boost performance of Malawi athletes, while observing that Mzuzu  Stadium pitiable state included no running water in dressing rooms, even the grass on the playing field is not fit for football games.

“These factors cannot help our athletes perform well,” he had said of the 15,000 capacity sporting facility that was built in 1970 and in banning it FAM’s technical committee report highlighted poor state of the pitch, official authorized capacity not known, poor players tunnel, missing technical benches, poor condition of perimeter fence, poor dressing rooms, no public address system, dilapidated scoreboard, among others.

It was banned alongside Civo Stadium in Lilongwe with main highlights being non-functional public toilets, official authorized capacity not known, non-functional public address system, poor condition of perimeter fence and lack of scoreboard among others.

Ahead of their TNM Super League clash against Ekwendeni Hammers on August 16 at Mzuzu Stadium, Mighty Wanderers coach Mark Harrison once more condemned the status of its pitch — saying it is “an absolute disgrace and unplayable”.

He joined controversial Silver Strikers Dutch coach, Pieter De Jongh, who courted wrath of the football fraternity when he described in May that Mzuzu Stadium pitch was in such a bad state that even his four-year-old dog would get injured playing on it.