| Name | Joseph Matope |  |
| Surname | Matope | |
| First Names | Joseph J | |
| Alternate Name | ||
| Title | Mr | |
| Country of Birth | Malawi |
| Positions | |||
| From | To | Organisation | Position |
| 2005 | Department of Administration & Finance | Principal Secretary - Administration | |
| Date of Birth | |
| Political Affiliation | |
| Telephone | |
| Address | |
| Notes | Secretary for Education Joseph Matope found himself in a tight corner during a parliamentary committee hearing Monday when he failed to account for a contractor who pocketed about K26 million for work not done in “the K187 million education scam”. Matope was appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (Pac) of Parliament which is questioning several government ministries on various financial and audit queries. The Education officials are being tasked for the K187 million scam, where an investigation showed ghost projects where money was paid to various contractors. Some of them have been taken to court. The PS told the committee that investigations revealed that there was a contractor who claimed K25,763,066, yet when the ministry checked the situation on a construction site it was established that no work was done. “We are failing to trace this contractor because there is no information available leading to the contractor’s identification,” said Matope. He said documents on payment vouchers and other particulars on the contractor seem to have been “deliberately” destroyed. “Therefore, we wish to inform the committee that it will be difficult for us to recover the money from the contractor as we cannot trace him,” said Matope. The committee, however, ordered the PS to trace the contractor and recover the money. “What do you mean all information is not available? Such processes are not complicated. What about the officials who were involved in the payment of that money in the ministry? Is that really difficult to trace?” queried Pac chair Respicious Dzanjalimodzi, himself a former Secretary to the Treasury.. He said 1997 was not too long ago for the ministry to fail to trace the contractor who was involved in the deal, adding that there is no reason for the process of identifying the culprit to take long. “I suggest that you do this quickly and tell us the findings. It has already taken so long and if you continue delaying it will reflect badly on you,” he said. Matope also told the committee that the ministry discovered that another contractor was paid money in excess of about K56 million who has since been ordered to pay back. He said another contractor claimed K519,509 for work that was not done and that the ministry has referred the case to the Solicitor-General for legal advice. Pac in January this year ordered the ministry to investigate the infamous education scam and report its findings to the committee. [ Retrieved on 20-09-06 - www.nationmalawi.com ] |
| Record last updated on 07 JAN 2008 |