PPDA, ministry tussle over Mombera University contract

The Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA) 95-day delay in rejecting a K100 billion single-source bid has stalled Mombera University, 11 years after its foundation stone was laid.

The Nation has learnt that on August 11 2026, PPDA rejected the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology’s May 8, 2026 request to fast-track construction through Anhul Foreign Economic Construction Company Limited, with the ministry saying the delay has consequences.

The road leading to Mombera University site.

Secretary for Education Ken Ndala said in an interview last week that the 95-day wait has forced government into competitive bidding now expected to conclude in April 2027 while a governance observer said the period PPDA took to decide on withholding ‘no objection’ was too long.

But in a written response yesterday, PPDA denied delaying the process, citing the need for “additional information and clarifications” from the ministry.

And in his August 11 2026 response to the ministry’s May 8 2026 request for ‘No Objection’, PPDA acting director general Timothy Kalembo said the prospective cost of constructing the project is beyond the probable threshold that could be set for the use of the single-source procurement method.

He said Section 45(1)(a) of the PPDA Act does not apply to the procurement, further arguing that the proposed contractor could not technically be considered the only contractor capable of undertaking or delivering the work.

“This is on the basis that there have been similar works within Malawi and within the southern African region where some contractors have executed similar works. As such, section 45(1) (b) of the Act could not be applied for this procurement,” said Kalembo.

He said Section 45(1) (c) of the Act, which allows single sourcing in cases of emergency, also does not apply to the procurement, as there is no emergency being addressed by the proposed works.

But in an interview on Thursday, Ndala noted that PPDA took 95 days to give feedback, in the process forcing the ministry into a lengthy competitive procurement process that is expected to end in April 2027.

He said the ministry opted for single sourcing because it believed it would speed up construction as the chosen contractor, Anhul Foreign Economic Construction Company Limited, was expected to handle both the design and construction.

Said Ndala: “This is the contractor that designed and built the Malawi University of Science and Technology in Thyolo [Must] and Parliament Building [in Lilongwe] and we thought that the contractor had demonstrated capacity.

“Secondly, this contractor was already hired in the first place. We actually have a contract with him, but there are some legal issues. So, we thought it’s going to be better to hire the same contractor realising that terminating his contract or whatever would also cost us big.”

But in a follow-up questionnaire, PPDA spokesperson Mandy Pondani disputed the ministry’s claim that the authority delayed in processing the request, saying outstanding issues and the need for the ministry to provide additional information and clarifications before a procurement method could be determined were the contributing factors.

Pondani said in a written response yesterday that the authority reviewed the submission for use of single-sourcing method on June 7 2026 and observed that the costing of the construction works using a square metre was inadequate for a contractor to come up with an acceptable bid.

She said: “It was also observed that the construction project required an independent registered consultant responsible for designs. The ministry was invited together with the Director of Buildings Department to a meeting to clarify several areas relating to the submission.

“On 22nd July 2026 the meeting was held and a number of action points were resolved. One specific issue was that the bidding document to be used in the procurement required undergoing further review to safeguard the interests of government.”

The PPDA’s own service charter stipulates that after a procuring and disposing entity’s submission of documentation to the authority’s, procurement approval and the granting of a no-objection are supposed to take 21 days.

Commenting on the development, Civil Society Education Coalition executive director Benedicto Kondowe said for a project of this magnitude, PPDA might have found that the proposed contractor was not the only capable supplier.

However, he said a request made in May should not ordinarily have have waited until August for a procurement determination, particularly where the decision is fundamental to whether construction can proceed.

During the Umthetho celebration of the Jere Ngoni in Mzimba on August 8, Second Vice-President Enock Chihana, who is charged with overseeing implementation of the project, promised that contractors would be on the ground once PPDAA responded.

The phase, for which Ndala said government had provided K100 billion, includes the construction of the School of Animal Sciences, an administration block, two student hostels, 30 staff houses, a cafeteria, sports facilities, a clinic and a waste management system.

The Mombera University project, a brainchild of former president Bingu wa Mutharika, was initially launched in 2015 under the first Peter Mutharika administration but stalled in 2018 after the construction of access roads.

The Tonse Alliance administration later allocated K5 billion in the 2023/24 national budget to revive the project, followed by K500 million in the 2024/25 fiscal year and K2 billion in the 2025/26 budget.