Maravi

Dora’s defence stinks – Lubinda

Dora’s defence stinks – Lubinda
Written by George Chellah and Chibaula Silwamba
Monday, February 16, 2009 5:20:57 AM

COMMUNICATIONS and transport minister Dora Siliya's defence on Zamtel and RP Capital Partners deal is stinking, Patriotic Front (PF) spokesperson Given Lubinda said yesterday.

And former communications and transport minister Professor Nkandu Luo yesterday said it is a very serious anomaly for Siliya, as a minister, to be involved in tender processes in the partial privatisation of Zamtel and purchase of radars for Lusaka and Livingstone international airports.

Commenting on Siliya's defence on the RP Capital Partners US $2 million contract with the government for the valuation of Zamtel’s assets, Lubinda said he was not convinced with Siliya's justifications of the deal. He advised Siliya to take a leaf from former lands minister Reverend Gladys Nyirongo's conviction and to beware of external pressures when making decisions of public nature.

“She said that RP Capital Partners are the only ones who are willing to buy part of Zamtel whereas the others are demanding to buy the whole of Zamtel without valuating. What sense does it make to her to give the contract to RP Capital Partners to value Zamtel, which they want to buy?” Lubinda asked.

“Is she saying she wants to pay them US $2 million for valuing the company they will later on buy? It doesn't make sense to me. Her defence is still suspect because you don't go to a buyer to say 'can you please value my car', the same fellow who is supposed to buy your car after valuing it. The fellow will under value it. That defence stinks, to me.”

Lubinda advised the government to exercise caution when dealing with the partial privatisation of Zamtel.

“When Zambia sold its gold and silver during the last privatisation, people complained. We don't know the real value we got for selling our parastatals. Therefore, no minister should give themselves power to sell any parastatal without the involvement of the public,” Lubinda said.

Lubinda further advised Siliya to take a leaf from Rev Nyirongo's conviction.

“It's only foolish people who don't learn from others' experiences. When Chiluba started being prosecuted by the late Levy Mwanawasa, it should have been a lesson to Mwanawasa as well. That this is what happens if you abuse public office,” Lubinda said. “So Dora must learn from the difficult circumstances the Reverend madam Nyirongo has found herself in today.”

Lubinda warned Siliya not to be influenced by external pressures when making decisions.

“External pressures influence decisions of public nature but when judgment day comes, those external pressures won't be there. Even Dora must be aware that if the decisions she is making are being influenced by someone somewhere, when the time to answer questions comes, she will be there alone. Is Dora going to die defending that?” Lubinda asked. “You can't hide filth under the carpet for too long. It will start stinking. My colleagues in government should ensure that they make prudent decisions, which will be beneficial to the country. There is no pillow as comfortable as a clean conscious.”

On Rev Nyirongo's conviction, Lubinda described it as a disgrace.

“Remember that Reverend Gladys Nyirongo called me corrupt over the illegal allocation of land in Chilenje. But what has happened? She is the one who is supposed to be clean, madam Reverend is now in jail whilst I, the person she accused of being corrupt, is free,” Lubinda said. “Another lesson from Rev Nyirongo's conviction is that those who cry the loudest everyday are often the ones that are underperformers. Rev Nyirongo called everybody names and that they were incompetent and corrupt but ultimately she has been found guilty by a court of law.”

Lubinda said Rev Nyirongo's conviction must also serve as a good lesson to all politicians.

“Politicians must learn to not only talk the talk, but also walk the talk. We must provide exemplary leadership whether you are in opposition or not,” said Lubinda.

And Prof Luo said she was surprised with Siliya's involvement in the tenders.

She was commenting on Siliya's decision to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with RP Capital at a contract sum of US $ 2 million [about K10.3 billion] to evaluate the assets of Zamtel in total disregard of legal advice from the Attorney General's chambers and the latest tender exposé in which Siliya cancelled a duly awarded contract for the supply, delivery, installation and commissioning of a Zambia Air Traffic Management Surveillance Radar System (ZATM-RADAR) at Lusaka and Livingstone international airports with a view to accommodate SELEX Sistemi Integrati, a company from Italy, which has been single-sourced, contrary to professional advice from officials in her ministry, National Airports Corporation (NAC) and ZNTB.

“I have been following the two issues with a lot of interest and what came to my mind is that, has the way in which ministries are run changed?...because in any ministry of government in Zambia, at the time I was in government, there is the permanent secretary who is the controlling officer on all issues pertaining to financial matters and procurement matters,” said Prof Luo in an interview.

“As far as I can remember, the minister has absolutely nothing to do with issues of tender and procurement. Issues to do with procurement and tenders are handled by the procurement unit and the procurement unit has a tender committee. It is this tender committee which actually decides on issues of procurement and then there is a ministerial tender committee.”

She said the role of a minister was to direct policy, leadership and guidance in the ministry.

“If anything, as a minister, you should be the one to say, 'look, my dear permanent secretary and your team, I think this kind of decision is wrong, we can't proceed as such.'” Prof Luo said.

“But at least from what I have been reading, the minister this time is making decisions on procurement. For me, that is a very serious anomaly in the way I know government ministries have been run. However, what I have said is that maybe because Cabinet sits and makes decisions, I thought maybe the current Cabinet had sat and decided that this time around, the ministers will be taking tender decisions but if there hasn't been such a decision and the government has remained the way it was when we were sitting in Cabinet, that is the role of the procurement unit and permanent secretary and his tender committee to make those kinds of decisions and not the minister.”

Prof Luo said Siliya could not do things as she pleased because of her ministry's strategic importance to the security of the country.

“First of all, you must realise that in any country, there are four main strategic institutions which are very sensitive that hinge on the security of the country and these are communication - so Zamtel is a very strategic institution for this country. The second strategic institution is the airport, the third strategic institution is radio communication - in this case ZNBC [Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation] and the fourth one would be Zesco,” Prof Luo said.

“If you have heard about coup [d'états] in any country, the coup plotters first of all close the airport then take control of radio communication and telecommunication. Therefore, as a minister you have to be very sensitive to that fact.”

Prof Luo said the minister of communication and transport needed to be constantly in touch with the Republican President whenever they wanted to make changes in communication institutions.

“You cannot just do things as you please. In fact, you need to get the advice of the Head of State all the time when you are making decisions on those installations. As one makes decisions on Zamtel and the airport, it is always important to bring into the loop the Head of State and both of you have to be very cautious about the security of the country and therefore you can't do things the way you want to do them,” Prof Luo said. “Personally, I have been very surprised and I have been saying, 'God forbid I hope this is not true.' But we have been reading about them in the press.”

Prof Luo advised Siliya to heed the legal advice of the Attorney General because any MoU or agreement she signed had legal implications.

“There are two institutions which you can't go against because these are established by Acts of Parliament. That is the Zambia National Tender Board [ZNTB] and neither can you defy the legal opinion of the Attorney General. For instance, if the Attorney General or justice minister gives you advice then you defy them, then we might as well scrap off those institutions,” said Prof Luo. “As a minister, you have to be guided by the legal opinion because of the legal implications of whatever you are doing.”

Attorney General Mumba Malila strongly criticised Siliya's decision to proceed to sign a MoU with RP Capital Partners Limited of Cayman Islands to evaluate Zamtel and find an equity partner in total disregard of mandatory legal advice from his office.

However, President Rupiah Banda shielded Siliya, saying she was on the right track on the partial privatisation of Zamtel.

Meanwhile, highly-placed sources within ZNTB have revealed that Siliya's cancellation of a duly awarded contract for the supply, delivery, installation and commissioning of ZATM-RADAR at Lusaka and Livingstone international airports was meant to accommodate SELEX Sistemi Integrati, a company from Italy, which had been single sourced, contrary to professional advice from officials in her ministry, National Airports Corporation (NAC) and ZNTB.

Labels: DORA SILIYA, GIVEN LUBINDA, NKANDU LUO, PRIVATISATION

posted by MrK @ 5:21 AM