It appears Helen Buluma was a face-saver of the embattled Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) which dropped every imaginable matter of awful smell in the National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) space.
Buluma, who was awarded employment at Nocma by DPP as a compensation following her loss in parliamentary seat contest has been serving with loyalty to her party and handlers than to Nocma, its mandate and the country at large.
She, in 2019, contested for a parliamentary seat to represent Nsanje South West constituency where she lost to an independent candidate twice (one at the polls and another loss at the court when she attempted to challenge the election of Ntiza Valera). When the DPP assumed power following the 2019 elections with Mutharika as a continuing president, the State House instructed the recruitment of Buluma at Nocma.
Despite Mutharika’s presidency meeting a disastrous dead fate following the court case that challenged his declaration as winner of the 2019 elections, Buluma, just like most of the lucky ones who were recruited into the civil service remained in employment after the new government led by Lazarus Chakwera took over power from fresh presidential election that took place in 2020.
New information coming in indicates that Buluma has been presiding over a continuation of theft and abuse syndicate of resources at Nocma including fuel.
Shire Times has been exclusively informed that in the run-up to the 2019 elections, Mota Engil, a Portuguese company which had been caught in a cobweb of corruption in Malawi with the DPP-led administration, was drawing fuel direct from Nocma on credit.
The bill accumulated to K6 billion and in the run-up to the 2019 elections, Tembenu Kilembe & Co., a law firm connected to DPP Nec member and former Minister of Justice under DPP regime, Samuel Tembenu, wrote a claim letter to Mota Engil on behalf of government (which is in itself a dubious transaction).
Mota Engil paid the money through the Tembenu law firm, which, in turn, never relayed the money to Government.
As if that was not enough, another DPP-connected business entity, Mulli brothers, which is majory owned by Leston Mulli, a DPP central figure from Mulhakho hub also drew fuel from Nocma on credit amounting to K800 million and has never paid anything to date.
