Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and Irrigation has given ADMARC Limited seven days to submit a detailed report on the recalled 45 metric tonnes of contaminated maize flour in December last year.
Committee Chairperson Anthony Kamoto issued the directive when members toured ADMARC Limited Head Office in Blantyre to appreciate the operations of the state grain trader.
He said the committee wants to establish what caused the contamination of the maize flour in July last year, a critical period when Malawians needed the commodity.
Kamoto stressed that those responsible for storage, packaging and distribution must be held accountable.
“We are very serious about the report as a committee. It has to be detailed. People out there wanted the same flour but here it was left unattended. We want to know what happened because the issue put people’s lives at risk,” said Kamoto.
Commenting on the matter, ADMARC Chief Executive Officer Ben Botolo said the company is committed to submitting the report as soon as possible, describing it as part of its administrative obligations.
Botolo, however, maintained that the quality of maize flour currently sold in ADMARC markets remains high.
He explained that the December withdrawal of 45 metric tonnes of flour followed routine inspections which detected packaging defects that led to contamination.
“This was due to a weak oversight role by the former ADMARC administration,” he said.
Botolo further revealed that by July 2025 ADMARC had milled 473 metric tonnes of maize, producing cream of maize, wholegrain flour and maize bran.
He said all products were sold, leaving 97.14 metric tonnes of maize flour in stock as of 18 December 2025.
He assured the public that ADMARC remains committed to supplying safe, quality and affordable products, with strengthened quality control measures nationwide and beyond the borders.
The committee has also given ADMARC another seven days to explain why some of its processing plants remain non functional in depots across the country.
Kamoto expressed concern that despite having the potential to produce quality products for both local and international markets, ADMARC’s performance is being affected by idle machinery.
He cited that dhal processing plants in Machinga, Liwonde Depot and Luchenza in Thyolo which have not been commissioned six years after installation.
He also mentioned a rice milling machine in Karonga and ginneries in Balaka and Ngabu, all of which are underutilised.
Kamoto said the committee will lobby Parliament to increase budgetary allocation to ADMARC, noting that inadequate funding is negatively affecting the company’s operations.
