Human rights activist group, Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (Cdedi), has requested government carry out a comprehensive audit on all road and water supply projects and reveal all contents in contracts it signed with companies.
In a statement released on Thursday, CDEDI said that natural disasters like Tropical Storm Ana have exposed compromised standards in most of the country’s road projects.
CDEDI further noted that the current situation is a blessing in guise as it provides an opportunity for authorities to reform the construction sector and get rid of deep-rooted corruption that compromises standards.
“It does not need emphasis that a good road network is a catalyst for development.
However, as a country, we have needlessly lost lives due to road accidents because of poor conditions of the roads and washed-away bridges.
“It is against this background that CDEDI is challenging the Roads Authority (RA) to audit projects under its jurisdiction against details of signed contracts for the same, and give feedback on the same,” reads the statement signed by CDEDI executive director Sylvester Namiwa.
The rights group has outlined some of the projects that should be part of the audit. The road projects include the Jenda-Edingeni, Karonga-Songwe, Ntcheu-Tsangano and Nsanje –Marka, Kapiri- Mkanda, Mzimba – Mzarangwe, Ntchisi Malomo, Kenyatta Drive expansion and Nsanama – Nayuchi.
CDEDI has since given the Roads Authority seven days to provide the requested information. Acting Chief Executive Officer Francis Dimu has told the media that his office is yet to see the letter.