…K2.97bn tarpaulin bill is more than government’s K2.5bn contribution towards construction of 55 health posts
…almost equals entire K3bn allocation for construction of Cancer Centre
State-owned ADMARC Limited plans to spend nearly K30 million on each of 100 tarpaulins under a K2.97 billion procurement deal. Shockingly, Malawi24 has established that even large heavy-duty industrial tarpaulins can cost less than K3 million each, raising questions over how ADMARC arrived at a price of K29.7 million apiece.
According to a notification of intention to award contract issued by ADMARC, the state-owned company has selected Maiden Investment to supply the 100 tarpaulins for K2,966,980,045. That works out at precisely K29,669,800 for each tarpaulin. In its notice, ADMARC said:
“ADMARC Limited wishes to notify the general public and bidders that participated in the bidding process that it has finalized the evaluation process for the procurement of Tarpaulins and now intends to award the contract to the successful bidder as below.”
The procurement, referenced ADMARC/NCB/TP/2026/2027/02, lists Maiden Investment as the successful bidder and gives unsuccessful bidders until 14 October 2026 to request a debriefing.
Tarpaulins are large waterproof or water-resistant sheets commonly used in agriculture to protect maize and other crops from rain, moisture and other elements. They can be used to cover stacks of produce, as ground sheets during drying and handling, to cover produce being transported on trucks and to protect crops and equipment stored outside. On his recent public appearance, President Peter Mutharika lauded his achievenet on food security.
Malawi24’s market checks found that even large heavy-duty industrial tarpaulins can be bought for less than K3 million.
At K3 million each, ADMARC’s proposed price is nearly 10 times that amount. However, ADMARC’s public notice does not disclose the dimensions, material, thickness or technical specifications of the tarpaulins being purchased. It is therefore not possible from the notice alone to establish whether ADMARC is buying unusually large or highly specialised covers that could account for the price.
That leaves a straightforward question for the state-owned company: what exactly is ADMARC getting for K29,669,800 per tarpaulin? At a benchmark of K3 million each, the K2.97 billion could buy approximately 989 tarpaulins, rather than 100.
100 tarpaulins or 55 health posts
The sheer size of the expenditure become more striking when ADMARC’s proposed expenditure is placed alongside projects funded through the 2026/27 national budget. Government has allocated K2.5 billion as its counterpart contribution towards construction of 55 health posts. ADMARC’s K2.97 billion tarpaulin contract is K467 million more than that entire allocation.
The government has also allocated K3 billion towards construction of the Cancer Centre — only about K33 million more than ADMARC intends to spend on 100 tarpaulins. The same budget allocates K1 billion for construction of Domasi Community Hospital and K1.6 billion for Mponela Hospital.
The combined allocation for the two hospitals is therefore K2.6 billion. ADMARC’s proposed tarpaulin expenditure exceeds that by approximately K367 million. The comparisons do not mean that the projects have identical procurement requirements or that the budget allocations represent their total construction costs. They do, however, illustrate the scale of the proposed ADMARC expenditure.
From K40m in lodges to K30m tarpaulins
The controversial tarpaulin procurement is not the only ADMARC expenditure raising questions over how the parastatal is using taxpayers’ money.
Just recently, it emerged that ADMARC had been spending millions of kwacha on lodge accommodation for its chief executive, Ben Botolo, who reportedly spent about 10 months staying in lodges at a cost of around K40 million.
Botolo defended the arrangement, saying: “I am not staying in the hotel. I have been staying in Lilongwe working at Malangalanga and I come here to finalise payments such as salaries, etc. While I am here I stay in lodges,” Botolo said.
The explanation itself raised questions over why administrative duties such as finalising salary payments required the chief executive to travel between cities and incur accommodation costs rather than being handled electronically.
Now comes another bill: K2.97 billion for 100 tarpaulins. The spending comes as ADMARC has told Parliament that it needs K144 billion to operate.
