#NANDISBALI

ADMARC to pay K30m each for tarpaulins that cost K3m …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. The sheer size of the expenditure becomes even clearer when measured against government’s development spending: ADMARC’s K2.97 billion bill for 100 tarpaulins is almost equal to the K3 billion allocated for construction of the Cancer Centre. The amount is also K467 million more than government’s entire K2.5 billion counterpart contribution towards the construction of 55 health posts in the 2026/27 national budget. 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. Read full story at: malawi24.com/2026/10/06/adma…