After the importation of maize from Zambia, in which corners were ruthlessly cut and a whole senior minister lost his job because he is being suspected of abuse of office and corruption in connection with the saga, you would have thought the DPP government has learnt its lessons.
Unfortunately it has not.
There is no question that the Capital City, Lilongwe, just like Blantyre, Zomba and Mzuzu, needs another source of water in the face of a growing population and the drying Malingunde Dam due to the effects of climate change as a result of unsustainable human activity.
So, as long as it is financially viable, feasible and cost effective, I do not care where this water is pumped from—it might even be from holy heaven!
That is why, everything being equal, no Malawian in their right senses would put spanners into the works of the K400 billion Lilongwe Water Board Project to get water from Lake Malawi, a distance of 130 kilometres, through a contract that has been awarded to Khato Civils owned by Simbi Phiri.
But there is only one drawback that may derail the project and it is the same old habit of the DPP government which has nine lives and refusing to die.
It is the habit that was at play during the importation of maize from Zambia; that of cutting corners with total disregard to the laws governing procurement in the country.
Let us for the moment forget about the doubts as regards the doability of the project as well articulated by Dr Ken Wiyo of Bunda College of Agriculture (I do not like the LUANNAR business). The contractor insists it is possible.
What we cannot forget is how the DPP government can justify its total disregard for the laws governing the execution of projects of this magnitude?
What does the DPP government tell Malawians about its nod for the project to go ahead without feasibility study? And then it is murky about the funding of the project which Attorney General Kalekeni Kaphale has also questioned?
Lilongwe Water Board Chief Executive Officer Alphonso Chikuni says the hurry and disregard for the laws is down to the fact that Lilongwe is dry and there is no time to waste.
Does this not sound familiar and like a refrain of what we heard from the deposed Agriculture Minister George Chaponda who justified abuse of office and violation of procurement laws in the maize saga by saying the house that is Malawi was burning with a child inside?
Did it not turn out that apparently no house was burning and that all the maize the country needed was right here in Malawi in the hand of private traders?
The Malawi Law Society has already commented that, by going ahead with this project without a comprehensive feasibility study and an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), the government is simply exposing itself to legal challenge and potential delays
But while Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe is talking of review of the project, the contractor is buying and mobilising expensive equipment on site.
The question that Gondwe should have answered is, what should Malawians believe? Has the project started or not?
Malawians are asking why the rush? Yes Lilongwe needs water urgently but it is not an excuse for violating important laws that were put in place not for decoration but that they must be obeyed for the good of us all.
When all is said and concluded, this is, again, the DPP government’s display of incompetence.
What we do not know is whether this is the continuation of the staggering deliberate incompetence that we saw in the maize deal to cover up abuse of office or it is meant to mask something.
No matter what it is, it is not right as it is creating suspicion that money exchanged hands. After all, Simbi Phiri is a free talker and he has not hidden the fact that he funds both the ruling DPP and the opposition MCP.
The question that both parties must come out clean on to Malawians is: what role did this revelation play in the award of the contract and continue playing in the rush to execute it without due regard to the laws of the country.
For once, the DPP should learn a lesson and be diligent enough and respect national laws.
What is this government up to? Will it ever learn?
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