Government has sent a directive to all principal secretaries and heads of departments, to temporarily suspend the awarding of all types of Government contracts with immediate effect, to implement an audit of prospective contracts.

The directive, also addressed to heads of independent and constitutional bodies and all district commissioners, says the audit will ascertain the transparency and credibility of the processes and procedures followed and decisions made.

“This suspension is in line with the provisions of the Corrupt Practices Act (2004), the Public Audit Act (2003). the Public Finance Management Act (2003) and the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Act (2017) which aim at ensuring corruption-free and fair contract management.” says part of the sent letter. Last month, the (Peter Wa Mutharika regime) 2020/21 National Budget allocated K1.3 billion to the National Audit Office, a sum that is lower than the K1.6 billion that the budget released for the office during the 2019/20 national budget. NAO has therefore said the low funding will affect investigations and audits. The Budget, Finance and Public Accounts Cluster Committee co-chairperson Sosten Gwengwe said that the sum was not sufficient enough for NAO to operate. “They wanted K600 million more to carry out their job well. Oversight institutions should be properly funded as they bring in checks and balances.” said Gwengwe.