By Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba
We called for transparency and accountability in the fertiliser procurement process but our calls fell on deaf ears.
Our maize is grown by small-holder farmers especially those provided with farming input.
It’s November and fertiliser has not been distributed in some case has not even been importe. There are residual supplies here and there but there is no fertiliser across the country.
Now the entire country faces crop failure and food insecurity next year.
Some companies that won the tenders are still processing financing with banks and purchase of fertiliser abroad.
This is because of delays in unnecessary procurement process.
Previously, fertiliser would be in warehouses, sheds and district storage facilities by April/May.
The current procurement process was driven by a singular decision to exclude as much as possible, previous suppliers.
For this reason, the tender process was repeatedly interefered with and botched.
ZAMBIAN CONTRACTORS NEGLECTED
In order to empower Zambians, and to respond to concerns about foreign companies getting huge government contracts, the new Zambia Public Procurement Act of 2020 provides that large-scale national tender from Government should be given to citizen-owned companies as preference.
This has become a danger to large foreign-owned companies that have previously dominated Government contracts.
To this effect, Government officials( probably bribed as there is no other explanation) treacherously, have resorted to procurement through single-sourcing (direct bidding) that overcomes the need to give such tenders to citizen-owned companies.
We saw this in ZESCO’s $107million tender for wooden poles. This has repeated itself in other large-scale procurements by Government and public bodies such as the Ministry of Health $100million contract to build infections disease hospitals, and a $65million medicine supply contract from Egypt.
FERTILISER SCANDAL
For fertiliser supply, the final process that awarded Zambian companies in accordance with the law, was hastily cancelled and replaced by a process of direct-bidding or single-sourcing.
Government cancelled a public tender for the supply, delivery, warehousing and distribution of D-compound(basal) and Urea Fertiliser under the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP).
The tender was conducted under the Open National Bidding procurement method.
Six companies that were picked as best evaluated; Samar Agro Investments, Stutone Investments, Conchak Investments, Alpha Commodities, Agrizam Investments and Evergreen Fertilisers were mostly abandoned in the subsequent process.
On 21st September,2022, Agriculture Minister, Mutolo Phiri announced that six suppliers, mostly foreign-owned, were identified and given contracts for the supply and delivery of fertiliser.
Under this procurement, the Ministry picked six firms; ETG, FSG, United Capital Fertiliser, Alpha Commodities and Agrizam to supply, deliver, warehouse and distribute the fertilizer.
And the Zambia companies that were given contracts; Alpha Commodities and Agrizam are associated with the President.
And Mutolo announced that Government was buying Fertiliser at $1,400 per tonne, the highest Zambia has ever procured.
Strangely, the tender that Mutolo(ZPPA) had cancelled a few days before provided to supply at $1,050 per tonne!
Corruption, favouritism, hatred and procurement irregularities have driven this process that will culminate in food insecurity and food shortages next year!