Africa-Press – Malawi. The High Court of Malawi has refused to grant an injunction to US-based company – Authentix Inc – in a case where the company is objecting to the re-tendering of the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) Tax Stamps bid.
Instead the High Court judge Ivy Kamanga has opted for an inter parte hearing on a date yet to be communicated. Authentix Inc is challenging the decision of the tax collector to retender the contract, fearing this is a deliberate move to award the contract to a corruption-tainted Swiss company – SICPA.
Apparently, MRA changed goal posts in its procurement rules after President Lazarus Chakwera met with billionaire and SICPA Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Phillip Amon, in Lausanne Switzerland, recently.
The procurement rules of course did not appear to apply to SICPA, who were, under bidding conditions, expressly forbidden to have any contact or influence with government officials during such periods. But after Chakwera’s meeting with Amon, MRA announced that it would issue a new bid.
This has raised fears of probable corruption and bribery. Lawyer representing Authentix Inc, George Liwimbi, applied for a court order restricting the Authority from proceeding with the retender process was denied. However, High Court judge Ivy Kamanga refused and instead opted for inter parte hearing on a date yet to be communicated to the concerned parties.
The developments obtaining on the matter have raised eyebrows among governance and human rights activists who are now demanding that the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) should institute investigations into the alleged “underhand dealings” between MRA and a corruption-tainted Swiss company – SICPA – in the Tax Stamps contract.
The activists wonder why MRA would choose to flout its own laid down procurement guidelines in order to accommodate SICPA in a fiscal marks International Competitive Bidding process.
The Executive Director (ED) for the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation, Michael Kaiyatsa, described the revelations as “shocking”. Kaiyatsa demanded that ACB should immediately launch investigations into the alleged “underhand dealings between MRA and SICPA”.
“The revelations are shocking. It is even more shocking to hear that the MRA flouted its own procurement guidelines to accommodate this company. Clearly, there is something fishy here and that’s why it’s important that the ACB should come in quickly to investigate this matter,” he reacted.
In his reaction, the Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency (CSAT) Executive Director, Willy Kambwandira, said it is unfortunate that institutions that are supposed to promote compliance and accountability are in the forefront violating their own laid down procurement procedures, the sudden change of in the bidding procedures smacks corruption, and we ask the Anti Corruption Bureau to investigate the matter.
Kambwandira said this is why CSAT has been encouraging government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to embrace and promote contracting. “What is happening at MRA does not demonstrate government to promote open contracting, and accountability, sadly the revelations have come at a time the country is losing billions to procurement, we must strengthen the institutional integrity committees and re constitute IPCs in MDAs they have outlived their lifetime and have become compromised,” he narrated.
On his part, the Forum for National Development (FND) National Coordinator, Fryson Chodzi, said he expected that the authority would not even bother including SICPA on the bidders’ list considering its tainted reputation.
“This criminal enterprise must be investigated and exposed. Malawians have suffered enough in the hands of a few cliché who are enriching themselves through abuse of their offices. We must never allow this issue to die a natural death,” emphasized Chodzi.
Malawians have also taken to the social media to criticize MRA for taking a risk of including a company whose bad reputation is well documented worldwide.
In all the countries it has ever worked, SICPA has earned itself a bad name for influencing the awarding of contracts in all the countries it is registered.
In Kenya, for instance, SICPA was awarded the Excisable Goods Management Systems (EGMS) contract worth some Sh17.8 billion on May 9, 2010, long before the company was registered on May 9, 2013.
Writer Robert Ritch fumed in reaction: “Under no circumstances such gross violation of basic proper procedures should be tolerated especially in a country like ours where, despite all its ills, the British colonial system left a legacy of proper record keeping!”
In Brazil, SICPA’s name is cited in the web of scandals that culminated in the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff. In June 2016, Brazil’s Federal Police arrested Marcelo Fisch, the former Coordinator General of Inspection at the Federal Tax Office for taking bribes in bids and contracts.
Fisch was the key person behind hiring SICPA without a bid in 2008 to implement a Beverage Production Control System known as SICOBE. In the Kingdom of Morocco, a SICPA contract raised concerns when it appeared that the price it was offering for tax stamps was 10 times higher than the price for the same service in Turkey.
As the contract was awarded during a pre electoral period, the Swiss firm was suspected of conducting a bribery scheme to fund the incumbent political party for the upcoming elections.
These cases are not the only ones tarnishing the image of SICPA. Several similar cases of malpractices are widely available for anyone with the desire to conduct a simple desk research on the firm’s operations.
Why remains to be clear is how and why despite all the scandals attached to its name, MRA would decide to include it among the bidders for supply of monitoring, printing, and retailing of fiscal tax stamps contract.
For More News And Analysis About Malawi Follow Africa-Press
