ESCOM spent K8 billion to buy 50,000 tyres from Mapeto, a company already facing tax evasion charges

Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) spent K8 billion to buy almost 50,000 motor vehicle tyres from Mapeto Tyres, a company already facing K16.5 billion tax evasion charges. Instead of focusing on generating and supplying electricity in Malawi, ESCOM which cannot keep Malawi’s lights on managed to find K8 billion to spend on tyres that can support the entire government fleet.

Sources within ESCOM told local media, that the procurement is under investigation for possible breaches of procedure and poor planning. “The quantity of tyres purchased exceeds operational needs with some expected to expire before being used,” a source said, as quoted by the Nation.

Compounding the concern is the manner in which the contract was awarded. The tender was advertised in April 2025 but was ultimately awarded to Mapeto Tyres as a single supplier in September 2025, contrary to the policy at the time which required multiple suppliers to benefit.

ESCOM has since suspended its Director of Finance Brian Ndisale as investigations intensify into the controversial procurement deal awarded to Mapeto Tyres last September. The corporation’s chief public relations and communications officer Pilirani Phiri confirmed the suspension.

Ndisale was suspended specifically to allow an independent investigation into how the contract ended up with a single supplier who received a Local Purchase Order shortly after the procurement advert.

Mapeto Tyres operations manager Kabir Ishmail maintains the company participated in an open and competitive tender and was awarded the contract after meeting all required criteria. He said Mapeto Tyres was yet to be paid and had no information on the developments that led to Ndisale’s suspension.

The choice of Mapeto as the supplier adds another uncomfortable dimension to the story. Mapeto David Whitehead and Sons executives were arrested in 2021 over alleged tax evasion initially estimated at K10.8 billion and later revised to K16.5 billion. The case remains unresolved five years later.

ESCOM awarded Mapeto a K8 billion contract while that case was still pending.

ESCOM is no stranger to procurement scandal in Malawi. In 2022 a Parliamentary Committee called for prosecution over a K14 billion misprocurement. The parastatal was also earlier embroiled in a K26 million procurement of envelopes — enough to last 22 years.

New ESCOM CEO William Kaipa, who effected the suspension, has also directed that all currently hired vehicles be returned to suppliers, signalling a broader effort to clean up the parastatal’s operations. Ndisale is yet to comment on his suspension or the allegations. The ’50 thousand tyres’ deal happened when Kamkwamba Kumwenda was ESCOM’s Tsar.