By Falles Kamanga
For the past years, Malawi has been experiencing fuel supply issues, including recurring shortages, leading to long queues at pump stations.
Since taking over power, President Lazarus Chakwera’s administration has been pushing hard to have the problem solved. Among others, is the resuscitating the railway transportation system to ease fuel importation from Mozambique.
The National Oil Company of Malawi (NOCMA) spokesperson Reymond Likambale said that they have imported more than 30 million liters of fuel since the country resumed using rail transport, saving 40 percent in monetary value.
According to Likambale, the percent is expected to increase with the opening of the Beira-Nsanje route which was launched by Chakwera recently.
Further, government is trying to find ways of buying fuel using the Malawi Kwacha, to counter problems of shortage of foreign currency in the country.
Ministry of Transport and Public Works (MOTPW), in line with requirements, is processing an importers licence, with the Malawi Energy Regulation Authority (MERA) and seeking hospitality with NOCMA.
The licence will enable MOTPW to finalize the proposed fuel supply deals with with G.E.T Global and Sheikh Saud bin Saqr al Qasimi of the UAE.
According to NOCMA chief executive officer Clement Kanyama, when finalized, the deals are benefiting from a situation where all the four suppliers have agreed to waive a contractual requirement.
“The on-going infrastructure construction activities do require considerable petroleum products. The reality is that unless an allocation (an average of US$50million, each month) of FOREX to fuel importers is matched with actual consumption, the additional consumption arising from implementation of major projects shall be met.
“With existing fuel importers not securing adequate FOREX to match day to day fuel consumption, the Ministry of Transport and Public Works (MOTPW) secured a fuel supply from a UAE based refinery through an arrangement with GET Global,” said Kanyama who added that since Covid 19 outbreak, Malawi has not managed to generate adequate forex to pay for the critical imports.
He added that through the two deals; “We are benefiting from a situation where all the four suppliers have agreed to waive a contractual requirement. In this, we are required to establish letters of credit with these suppliers, when they supply on open credit and the amounts are due, we are also not able to pay the amounts on the due dates.
“As a result of that, there have been times when the volumes of fuel in the strategic fuel reserves have been depleted, and there have been some instances where we’ve run out of stocks in the retail outright
“Now allow me to indicate that Sheikh Saud bin Saqr al Qasimi who then came up with an offer that they are willing to be paid in Malawi Kwacha. Now, this Malawi kwacha will not be taken to UAE, but shall be used by this office of the sheik in implementing the activities which they intend to implement in Malawi under the MOU,” he said
ENTER POLITICS OF DESTRUCTION
As government is busy trying to solve the problem, the opposition is doing otherwise. Trying sure that all the efforts should be in vain, for political reasons.
Recently, the Committee on Natural Resources and Climate Change in Parliament chairperson Werani Chilenga said some opposition politicians are deliberately suffocating government efforts on fuel supply chain in order to make sure that the country continues facing fuel challenges.
Chilenga, an opposition legislator himself, said all DPP want is that the country should experience fuel shortage so that that should use it to de-campaign the current leadership during the 2025 general elections.
In September next year, Malawi is expected to hold general elections.
Among others, the committee recommended that fuel prices be reasonably hiked as a measure for fuel sustainability in the country.
Chilenga said the committee made the recommendation after it noticed that MERA was selling fuel below recommended prices.
However, as debate unfolded in Parliament, the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), led by leader of opposition in the House George Chaponda walked out in protest, claiming that they were not being given chance to contribute.
DPP and other opposition members walked out of Parliament in protest. Ironically, DPP contributes a substantial number of member of the committee.
The move, angered Chilenga, who in an interview after the incident, advised them to avoid using the issue for their political gains.
“The committee is not a political tool of Parliament, we are here as parliamentary committee to do oversight but some members chose to take it political for their own political reasons.
“They deliberately walked out the house because they don’t want fuel adjustment so that by the end of the day this country should run out of fuel so that they should use it to de-campaign government, to say look government has failed to bring in fuel,” he said
Among those who took part in the committee’s investigation and came up with the recommendations are DPP spokesperson Shadreck Namalomba, Symon Vuwa Kaunda, Orphan Shaba and Joseph Nomale among others.
As the MOTPW is in the process of obtaining a licence to enable it complete the fuel supply deals with with G.E.T Global and Sheikh Saud bin Saqr al Qasimi of the UAE, the opposition are again on top of their voices sabotaging the same.
All that they want is to see into it that all the efforts by government to deal with fuel shortage problems are in vain.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are those of the author not necessarily of The Maravi Post or Editor
