Maravi

Zamtel, GMO maize deals

Zamtel, GMO maize deals
Written by Editor

Corruption, abuse of authority and state-sponsored theft is too destructive a vice not to be commented on. We have always said as a people that Zambia is a rich nation, endowed with various natural resources. And yet, our people continue to live in abject poverty. One of the chief culprits for the lack of development and poverty that many of our people suffer from is corruption and abuse of authority.

Our leaders have grown accustomed to a culture that does not require accountability. Anyone asking them questions is disrespectful. It is wrong for people who occupy public office to refuse to tell the nation things that they are entitled to know.

We are shocked that grown-up men are failing to tell the nation who ordered the genetically modified maize, which the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) received. Why the secrecy? Why should the minister for agriculture refer us to FRA and FRA refer us back to the minister for agriculture?

The dealings of government in this matter are beginning to stink. There is something rotten going on. We know that there are some greedy people who want to endanger Zambians by changing the policy on GMO food to match their greedy and selfish business interests.

This is not the only rotten deal that is going on. There are many others. We call upon all Zambians to be vigilant. The corruption and abuse of power we are beginning to see in this government is just a tip of the iceberg.

There is also no doubt that the Zamtel transaction by the Ministry of Communications and Transport is not transparent and therefore smells of a lot of filth. There are so many questions that the ministry has to answer concerning this transaction, especially in the light of the legal opinion offered by Attorney General Mumba Malila.

Malila’s office offered very sound legal advice on the best way to proceed in implementing the proposed partial privatisation of Zamtel. However, in very strange circumstances, communications and transport minister Dora Siliya ignored the Attorney General’s advice and proceeded to finalise the deal.

The question is: Where is Dora drawing the courage to ignore sound legal advice from the Attorney General?

This is a very serious matter and Zambians must take interest in what is happening to their assets. Like Malila rightly observed, the sale or privatisation of Zamtel is a very serious exercise for reasons that are obvious. Zamtel has strategic importance to this country and its sale must be conducted in a very transparent manner, not just by a few people in the ministry in the company of the sons of people in power.

Malila raised very critical matters that require honest answers. Why isn’t Cabinet debating the issue? Indeed, why is the matter being dealt with by the minister for transport and communications and not the minister for finance who is the custodian of all government commercial interests? Worse still, where is the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) board in this whole transaction? Has the ZDA board approved this transaction?

In a matter of a few months, the Ministry of Transport and Communications is at the centre of at least two major single sourcing anomalies. Not too long ago, we were talking about the Kasumbalesa border post development which was being single sourced by Dora Siliya and Mike Mulongoti.

So much is going wrong under Rupiah Banda. With just three months in office, so many scandals are brewing. Unless we all remain vigilant and fight the culture of abuse that Rupiah and his people are trying to reintroduce, we are headed back to the Chiluba days, if not worse.

We do not draw any pleasure in criticising the government. But we have a duty to raise the alarm. We told people that Rupiah is corrupt and he was likely to run a corrupt government. But some thought we were going overboard. How can Dora Siliya just wake up and decide to sell Zamtelwithout Rupiah knowing?

Why is there silence about the involvement of Henry Banda, Rupiah’s son, in this transaction? We ask: is it a mere coincidence that James Banda’s name is being mentioned in connection with the maize debacle while Henry Banda’s name is linked to the Zamtel saga?

Why should important and strategic national assets be dealt with as if people are buying and selling shirts or shoes? As a country, we have acquired a lot of bad and good experiences on the subject of privatisation and how it should be handled.

We call upon our people not to remain silent when so much is going wrong. This is not about Rupiah and his children and how they decide to make their money. It is about the 12 million Zambians whose interests have been ignored.

These transactions need to be investigated. If the Anti-Corruption Commission have any teeth left to bite, they need to start investigating the Zamtel saga without delay. We cannot afford to give away another strategic national asset for nothing because of the greed of a few politicians. This must stop.

We have fought corruption as a newspaper not because we hate anybody or have an axe to grind with anyone. We hate corruption and what it does to our people and the country. This is why the fight against corruption must be won. Precedents must be set which show that regardless of who you are, you will be held to account.

The conduct of the Ministry of Communications and Transport is raising a lot of questions. Why should they move in such a careless and illegal fashion on such an important transaction? Unless someone is determined to ignore the law because there is a benefit they want to derive which is not clear to all of us.

Labels: GMO, MAIZE

posted by MrK @ 7:59 PM