Bembeke Trading, a company alleged to be a proxy for business tycoon Abdul Karim Batatawala, is reportedly close to securing a multimillion-pound government deal, an investigation has revealed. Batatawala is prohibited from doing business with the Malawi government.
This ACB order was issued following Batatawala’s arrest on suspicion of fraud, corruption, and money laundering. Batatawala maintains his innocence.
His arrest is linked to previous contracts awarded through the Malawi Police. His name has also been recently mentioned in connection with alleged fraudulent tenders with the Immigration Department, which, like the Malawi Police, falls under the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security, currently headed by Minister Ken Zikhale Ng’oma.
Recent findings by Platform Investigation have revealed that Bembeke Trading is now on the verge of securing a rural electrification deal under the Ministry of Energy, headed by Minister Ibrahim Matola.
PIJ Malawi reports that Batatawala has previously supplied materials to the ministry for the Malawi Rural Electrification Programme (MAREP).
“Karim Batatawala has long been intertwined with various Malawi government departments as a dominant supplier of goods and services to entities such as the police, military, immigration, health sectors, medical stores, and the state-owned power company, Escom, through a series of companies,” Platform of Investigative Journalism (PIJ Malawi) reports.
Malawi24 published a story last August detailing other companied that are alleged to be used as proxies, with Bembeke being one of those companies. Shabib Jussab, Batatawala’s son-in-law, alleged last year amid a family feud that the tycoon uses Bembeke as a proxy company to circumvent an Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) order preventing him from winning any Malawi government tenders.
The news that Batatawala’s alleged proxy is about to be awarded a multimillion-dollar tender coincidentally aligns with the arrest of journalist Macmillan Mhone last Monday (8 April 2024) over the story we published last August (15 August 2023).
The Ministry of Energy requested a “no objection” clearance from the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA) to award Bembeke the tender.
Alfonso Chikuni, Principal Secretary for the Ministry of Energy, told PIJ Malawi that the Ministry selected Bembeke Trading Limited to supply materials for MAREP and that the ministry had requested a no-objection order from PPDA.
On paper, BEMBEKE Trading is registered under, Austin Rajab, who admitted last August to owning Bembeke Trading. When questioned about his connections to Batatawala and the use of Bembeke as a proxy, he directed Malawi24’s inquiries to the tycoon.
Despite the allegations from his son-in-law, Batatawala told PIJ Malawi that he does not own the company.
“I don’t own Bembeke Trading and have absolutely no connection to that business entity. Rajab has never been one of my employees,” Batatawala was quoted by PIJ Malawi.
The tycoon had also told Malawi24 last August that the allegations that he was using proxy companies were unfounded.
Meanwhile, after having our former journalists arrested, Batatawala is now seeking to have his son-in-law arrested in Saudi Arabia and extradited to Malawi on charges similar to those faced by Mhone. Ironically, Christopher Doba, the police officer who arrested journalist MacMillan Mhone, is also central to the efforts to extradite the estranged son-in-law.
The timing of these events raises questions, as PIJ Malawi notes that the Malawi24 editorial team was pursued nearly nine months after the story was first published; coincidentally, just before Bembeke Trading was awarded the multimillion-pound deal.
Meanwhile, PPDA has refused to issue the Ministry of Energy the no-objection order, understanding that Bembeke is owned by a ‘tycoon’ barred from conducting business with the government.
“Through communication from PPDA, we were informed that they have withheld a no objection for lot number 10 because the supplier is not allowed to do business with the Government of Malawi since he is connected to certain individuals,” Chikuni reportedly told PIJ Malawi.
It remains unclear whether Rajab, who is said to own Bembeke on paper, is also barred from doing business with the Malawi government like Batatawala.
