Malawi has awarded a contract for the purchase of ambulances to a Zambian company which submitted an expensive bid and is accused of corruption.
Grandview International of Zambia has been awarded a contract to supply 35 Toyota Land Cruiser ambulances to Malawi’s Ministry of Health.
The company pegged each ambulance at US$63,000 each (about K47 million) while the cheapest offer was from Toyota Malawi which pegged each ambulance at US$47,800 (K35.8 million).
Toyota Malawi also reportedly offered two years of free service for the vehicles.
In 2017, Zambian Member of Parliament Chishimba Kambwili accused Grandview of being involved in a controversial procurement of fire tenders. Kambwili said the company inflates prices of goods and uses political connections to acquire contracts.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has written the Anti-Corruption Bureau to investigate allegations of corruption in the awarding of the tender
In a letter to ACB dated September 10, HRDC chairperson Gift Trapence said it is surprising that the contract was awarded to a controversial Zambian company when a Malawian company submitted a cheaper bid.
“We appeal to the ACB to commence the investigation as soon as possible and that the anti-corruption body will update the nation when the investigation has started,” said Trapence.
