Malawi may lose K13 billion funding for a water treatment project due to the recruitment of Godfrey Itaye as Chief Executive Officer of Lilongwe Water Board (LWB).
The European Investment Bank (EIB) wants to provide 15 million Euros (about K13 billion) for a new water treatment plant for Lilongwe Water Board (LWB).
The EIB expects to get approval from its executive management later this month on the project which is being coordinated with the World Bank.
However, according to The Nation Newspaper, the bank has raised concern over the recruitment of Itaye who is facing charges of abuse of office from his time at MACRA.
Itaye was redeployed to LWB after being fired from MACRA in June.
In the letter, co-signed by the bank’s head of division (sub-Saharan Africa) Diederick Zambon and senior investment officer (sub-Saharan Africa) Jim Hodges, EIB says Itaye’s recruitment may impact the arrangement.
“The charges raised against the chief executive officer [CEO] of Lilongwe Water Board will negatively impact our ability to conclude the finance contract with the Ministry of Finance as we are unable to have persons under criminal charge involved in our project, particularly given the relatively recent incident of irregularity,” the bank said.
The bank is also concerned that the recruitment of Itaye is contrary to assurances the Ministry of Finance gave in April that a new chief executive officer for the Lilongwe Water Board would be competitively recruited and that the EIB and World Bank would be updated.
According to the bank, having received no such update it is difficult to determine if a competitive recruitment process was undertaken.
“It was with much disappointment when we learnt of reports in the media that the newly appointed chief executive officer of Lilongwe Water Board had been arrested and may be facing criminal charges. This development, of course, causes us considerable concern,” the bank said.
The bank has since demanded Ministry of Finance to provide details on charges which Itaye faces, his status at LWB.
