At a time that Malawians are struggling with dust and unfinished Kaunda road from Bingu Stadium heading to Chendawaka junction contributing to wear and tear amid high costs of vehicle maintenance with questions as to when the the Kaunda road from Bingu Stadium heading to Chendawaka junction will be completed, whose contact was awarded to China Civil Engineering Corporation at staggering MK 8.5 billion in 2022 .
The Roads Authority in their wisdom has released a notification of intention to award contracts for the rehabilitation for Wovwe Bridge with a 52Km road network in Karonga at another shocking MK 261 Billion , under lot 2 awarded to China Civil Engineering Corporation, a company that has already pocketed billions previously for the Kaunda road stretching from Bingu National Stadium to Chendawaka junction in Lilongwe and another for the Lirangwe-Chingeni-Machinga with no tangible progress on the ground.
The RA in July 2021 awarded a contract worth MWK19 billion for a six-lane Capacity Improvements of Kenyatta Road and Sharrar Street project to China Civil Engineering.
Just a few months later, the LWB obtained a ‘No Objection’ letter from the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) to award yet another contract, to the same company, to the tune of MWK5.2 billion, purportedly for the relocation of water pipes yet bid evaluation report shows that China Civil Engineering came fourth, with MK5.2 billion, and surprisingly, the company was picked by the LWB to do the job, without any justification for the choice of the company that came fourth among the bidders.
The lower bidders were Victory Vision Construction with MWK3.4 billion; Projex Group Ltd with MWK3.6 billion and Malbro International Ltd with MWK4.8 billion.
In 2022, China Civils was at it again when the Roads Authority (RA) was suspected to have conveniently paid a blind eye to the fact that the works that the Lilongwe Water Board (LWB) intends to award to China Civil Engineering formed part of the six-lane expansion works, under Contract No. RA/DEV/2020-21, which was already signed, and works had commenced on the site, such as the relocation of water pipes, sewer, communication cables and electricity poles, whose Bill of Quantities was pegged at MWK507 million.
China Civil Engineering dealings with the Roads Authority have always raised suspicion of fraudulent transaction where Malawians are being robbed of billions in broad-day light.
This coincidence of giving another contract to the same China Civils Engineering Company when its on record that it has not delivered fully on two projects awarded to it namely the Kaunda road stretching from Bingu National Stadium to Chendawaka junction in Lilongwe and another for the Lirangwe-Chingeni-Machinga should call for a serious investigation into the dealings of the Road Authority and China Civils.These two project jointly were valued at MK 15.7 billion.
The new development that China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation will be awarded a K261 billion contract for Lot 2, covering 52 kilometers of the Wovwe Bridge–Karonga road section in Karonga District is not only shocking but also suggest that those entrusted to protect the government pace and the interests of Malawians don’t care as long as tax payers money is stolen and ends in their pockets.
Malawians need to wake up from their slumber and ask the leaders to be accountable to such developments to save the country from some selfish individuals who are bent on nothing but plundering at will the country’s already depleted resources at a time that the rural masses are suffering.
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