MUTHARIKA FIRES WARNING SHOTS AT NTATA: TRASHES CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS ON CMST PROCUREMENT PROCESS

President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika has labeled Allan Ntata as a disgruntled individual who has chosen to make a career out of slander by cooking up stories aimed at tarnishing the President and those he perceive to be stumbling block to his ambition.

Mutharika said this in a statement released to the Press signed his Press Officer Gerald Viola.

In the Statement, President Mutharika has distanced himself from allegations hovering in the social medial that he and his aide Mr Ben Phiri interfered with the procurement process at the Central Medical Stores Trust (CMST) to award a 1.4 Billion Kwacha tender to Malawi Pharmacies.

Ntata alleged that President Mutharika held a meeting with Central Medical Stores and decided to award the Billion-worth tender to Malawi Pharmacies under the guise of the ‘Buy Malawian Campaign’. Malawi Pharmacies were a single bidder, contrary to provisions of the Public Procurement Act.
The deal which was finalised in March almost fell off because the Office of the Director of Public Procurement (ODPP) had refused to have it sanctioned as it was deemed illegal.

Reacting to the claims, Viola said the allegations are not true, saying President either directly or through anybody has never dealt with the alleged Malawi Pharmacies.

“That the allegations are nothing but cooked up stories from disgruntled people for reasons that can best be explained by themselves

“As alluded to earlier, the President’s policy is not to be drawn into commenting on trivia, and every allegation from whatever source, however, the State House would like to state that it is aware that the allegations are being propagated by a few disgruntled individuals,” reads in part the statement.
Mutharika said these individuals are led by Mr Z Allan Ntata who had his own expectations when the DPP took over power in May 2014.
“Without necessarily scandalizing Mr Ntata’s name, he was tried and tested when he once served as legal assistant to the late President Ngwazi Professor Bingu wa Mutharika, and all honest Malawians can attest to his performance then. And having sensed that his expectations may not be met, Mr Ntata decided to embark on a mudslinging drive at the Presidency and his Advisor and Personal Assistant Mr Ben Phiri. This is common knowledge to all Malawians who patronize the on-line publications and social network among other communication outlets,” he said.

Mutharika has urged the general public that there is no truth to the allegations that Mr Ntata and others are making either directly or using their pseudonyms ( Zigoba).