By Roselyn Phiri
Lilongwe, February 7: Minister of Information and digitalization, Moses Kunkuyu has said Government has not engaged in any new contract with Zuneith Sattar related business and there are no plans to sign any contract with him.
This was disclosed on Wednesday in Lilongwe during a media briefing where the Government was clarifying on issues that appeared in the Daily Times Newspaper of Monday January 29, 2024 titled ‘Government, Sattar in U$19 Million (over K31 billion) Arms Deal.
Speaking during the briefing, Kunkuyu said all Sattar related contracts were terminated by Government in line with section 46 of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets (PPDA) Act on public convenience.
“There is no new contract that has been signed with any of the company’s belonging to Sattar, Government as a procuring entity is under an obligation to pay for goods supplied, delivered or goods that were under production at the time of the termination.
“At the termination Government through the Malawi Defense Force (MDF) had several contracts with Sattar, among them was the contract with Malachite FZE for the supply of 32 Armoured Personnel Carriers(APC) signed on 24th May 2021,” He said.
The Minister further explained that Government wrote Malachite FZE on the 11th January 2022 informing them that Contract for the supply of APCs had been terminated.
He also said that the Government is concerned with how some members of the Media in the country conduct themselves when dealing with matters of national importance.
He advised members of the press to first verify any allegation before publishing any security related matters to avoid misleading the public.
“Government is always ready to clarify any issues when necessary, if approached in good faith with a common vision to develop Malawi,” Kunkuyu Said.
Also speaking during the press briefing, Minister of Defense Harry Mkandawire refuted allegations that the MDF is looking for a Journalist who published the article concerning government being involved in a contract with Sattar.
“It is not true that there are any plans to arrest any Journalist on this matter, we respect media freedom here Malawi,” Said Mkandawire.
