Three years have passed since the 2022 Affordable Input Program (AIP) Fertilizer Agreement was marked by deafening silence, institutional pointing and grand failures in leadership, rather than accountability or closure.
K563 million was recovered in August 2023 following international legal proceedings. So far, no one in Malawi has been held accountable. There are no fees. There are no prosecutions. There is no answer. Instead, the public is exposed to the choking of slowly calculated truth hidden behind a legal, bureaucratic tap dance.
In 2022, the fertilizer contract was shocked when a fertilizer contract, part of a grant program aimed at raising struggling farmers, was exposed as a missing rotten deal with suspected suppliers and millions. The response was quick – on paper. The council made inquiries. The Attorney General (AG) has promised justice. The Corruption Prevention Bureau (ACB) said it is investigating. The Ombudsman has issued a terrible report calling for disciplinary action and criminal proceedings.
However, in 2025, Malawians asked: Where is justice?
AG once burned with his commitment to “tracking everyone involved,” but now he is silent. The ACB, which claimed to have enacted the probe, has yet to be updated. The DPP says they introduced the issue to the police. Police say they will “check” if they received it. The Congress, which gathered testimony and held a meeting, has not yet produced a single report. Is this incompetent or a coordinated concealment?
Don’t make any mistakes. This is not a problem of missing paperwork or administrative delays. This is a nationwide scandal that has fallen into the heart of Malawi’s food security and public trust. It took away many of the farmers (many of whom live under the poverty line) of the input they desperately needed. Not only did it procurement, but it also revealed its weaknesses in the ethical backbone of public institutions.
But somehow, only those who need fertilizer the most are suffering from the outcome.
Let’s be honest. If there was a political will to reach the bottom of this, we would have seen a move by now. Instead, we are treated to non-answered compiled dances and official statements that have nothing to say at once.
The suspect is said to have been arrested in the United States. That was over a year ago. What has happened since then? Where is the promised cooperation between local and international organizations? Where can I find AG office updates? Why did Congress not express that discovery? What happened to the Ombudsman’s clear recommendations?
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The longer this silence lasts, the more it appears to be an attempt to protect its powerful interests.
This is more than a scandal. This is a referendum on the ability to hold Malawi leaders accountable. This is a test of whether our system serves people or protects something strong. And now the system is failing.
sufficient. Malawians deserve to know the truth. It’s not filtered. There’s no delay. It’s not hidden behind a cloud of bureaucracy. We deserve the answer, and more than that, we deserve the results.
The fertilizer story should not be allowed to disappear into another forgotten headline. It must be pursued relentlessly not only for justice, but for the future of public integrity in this country.
If we can’t reach the bottom of this, what hope is there to tackle the big battles of corruption, food security, governance reform?
This silence is not just a negligence, it is betrayal. And it’s right that Malawians are angry.
Editor’s Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of this newspaper.
