Maravi

Govt made simple

Govt made simple
Written by Editor

Listening to some ministers’ pronouncements in this administration, one would not be wrong to say Rupiah Banda is running a circus.Maybe these ministers should not be blamed. It appears they have been inspired by their leader, Rupiah. Rupiah’s whole administration is a huge circus, from top to bottom, from State House to the lowest office in the land.

It is becoming increasingly embarrassing to listen to ministers like Benny Tetamashimba and Ronnie Shikapwasha. It’s clear these do not think through what they pronounce. Their main preoccupation is to please their master. So we have praise singers for ministers. It’s a government made simple.

Tetamashimba yesterday said he was forced to disclose that the decision to acquire hearses for the local authorities was started during Levy Mwanawasa and Sylvia Masebo’s time so no one should accuse him of receiving kickbacks. The other day, this same Tetamashimba told us that he paid for the 100 hearses in December last year in his capacity as local government minister.

Now Tetamashimba is saying he is going to investigate why the ministry paid K14 billion for the hearses instead of the budgeted K8 billion during Masebo’s time. But who paid this money? Is Tetamashimba going to investigate himself? Why didn’t he investigate or ask before releasing the money? And why only start the investigations after a public outcry? If Zambians had welcomed the purchase of hearses without questioning the deal, was Tetamashimba going to institute investigations and announce that the project was started by Masebo and Mwanawasa?

This is lot of confusion coming from Tetamashimba. It appears he does not know what he is doing or what he is supposed to do. Today he says the hearses programme is his project, tomorrow he says it is Masebo’s.

From Tetamashimba’s own words, the project was started by Masebo but he is the one who paid for the hearses, that is if ministers have now become paymasters or procurement officers.

So what was Tetamashimba paying for, even as late as last January, if he was not convinced that Masebo’s project was worthwhile? This Tetamashimba was Masebo’s deputy, so he cannot plead ignorance on this matter. Assuming he did not agree with Masebo’s decision, why did he go ahead to pay for the hearses after he took charge of the ministry?

It is not a secret that there are a number of Masebo’s decisions that Tetamashimba has so far reversed. So why didn’t he reverse this decision to purchase hearses if he thought it should have nothing to do with him but Masebo? Masebo left an idea and it is Tetamashimba who turned this idea into reality.

This is what Tetamashimba wanted to see done so he should not blow hot air over this issue of hearses. It is a matter of public record that when Masebo was local government minister, she stopped the construction of the building next to Lusaka Girls School near the Addis Ababa roundabout in Lusaka to protect the interests of the school-going children. But a few weeks after Tetamashimba succeeded Masebo, he overturned her decision and allowed the construction of this building.

Some people have questioned and insinuated about this development but Tetamashimba has not bothered to explain why his ministry allowed the construction of this building contrary to Masebo’s instructions. Why can’t Tetamashimba clear his name or the ministry in the same way he wants to clear it over the purchase of hearses?

Today, Tetamashimba and Rupiah are making big plans for the launch and handover of the New Soweto market in Lusaka without announcing that this project was started by Mwanawasa and Masebo with the support of the European Union.

When it suits them, certain things should be attributed to Mwanawasa and Masebo or any other officials that worked closely with Mwanawasa. Is this the continuity Rupiah and his cohorts preached about? Rupiah was Mwanawasa’s vice-president and therefore part and parcel of every decision that Mwanawasa’s Cabinet made. What has happened to the issue of collective responsibility?

In any case, it is Rupiah’s administration that brought to fruition the hearse idea that was conceived during Mwanawasa’s time. Mwanawasa was not there when Rupiah and Tetamashimba pushed for the payment of these hearses as late as five months ago.

Legitimate questions have been raised. Why isn’t Tetamashimba or Rupiah addressing these questions? Michael Sata is saying that each hearse was budgeted for US $9,000 but Tetamashimba paid US $29,000 for one. Why? This is the question Tetamashimba is not answering. Instead, he wants to divert attention to who initiated the project, ignoring the fact that the person who initiated this project did not make the payment.

The other day, Tetamashimba was proud to announce that he made the payment last December. When he is queried about the figures, he is quick to pass the buck, suggesting that there could have been corruption in the process, which corruption he did not talk about earlier. And now Tetamashimba says he is going to investigate this matter and make his findings public. What is there to investigate? As a person who made this payment, is he also going to investigate himself?

We do not see anything to investigate about this matter because it is simple and straightforward. If it is not that simple and straightforward with Tetamashimba, then it is him who has a problem or he is up to something.

We are tired of this circus in Rupiah’s government.

Labels: BENNY TETAMASHIMBA, CORRUPTION, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 2:58 PM