Maravi

Norway demands removal of ZAWA director

Norway demands removal of ZAWA director
Written by Chibaula Silwamba and Margaret Habbuno
Friday, June 12, 2009 8:39:11

NORWAY has demanded that the Zambian government removes ZAWA director general Dr Lewis Saiwana from his position following audit revelations that he allowed Tomorrow Investments to undertake road construction projects failure to which they will maintain their suspension of aid to the institution. And Norwegian Ambassador to Zambia Tore Gjos could neither confirm nor deny the matter.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Gjos expressed concern at the mismanagement of funds in ZAWA but indicated that the embassy would continue discussing with the Zambian government on possible continued support to the wildlife sector.

Well-placed government sources revealed that the Norwegian government had given conditions, which the Zambian government should fulfill, in order for that government to resume its financial aid to the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA).

The sources said one of the conditions was that the Zambian government must remove Dr Saiwana from his position because he allowed Tomorrow Investments to be awarded the Chisengu-Mfuwe and Mfuwe-Chilongozi roads construction project in Mfuwe, Eastern Province when in fact it was clear before the contract was awarded that the firm could not complete the projects due to lack of the required manpower, equipment and know-how.

"It's clear Mr Saiwana is going. The Norwegians have put their foot down saying he must go because he caused NORAD to lose a lot of money through that irregular contract which was given to Tomorrow Investments. From the look of things, it seems the Zambian government has no option on this one because if it does not remove him then NORAD will completely pull out and it seems the government is not ready to lose that support from the Norwegians," the source said.

"As the minister [of tourism Catherine Namugala] put it - the Norwegians are indeed very upset. They are not happy with this [Tomorrow Investments] deal and they have suspended their financial support to ZAWA. As you know NORAD [Norwegian Agency for Development Co-operation] and Germany-Frankfort Zoological Society are some of the key financiers to ZAWA. So, if NORAD pulls out then a lot is at stake because the government considers tourism as one of the priority sectors to drive the economy forward and the roads in question lead to South Luangwa National Park, so you can imagine why the government is also upset about Mr Saiwana's conduct."

The sources said the Zambian government had acknowledged that Dr Saiwana erred when he overruled the negotiating committee's misgivings on Tomorrow Investments' capacity and went ahead to sign a contract with the firm, ignoring all the irregularities that were pointed out.

When contacted for comment, Ambassador Gjos said his dialogue with the Zambian government was in closed-door.

"I will not give any comment on an issue like that. I will not discuss my dialogue with the [Zambian] government in the newspapers. I hope that you appreciate that," Ambassador Gjos said.

Further asked on reports that his government had demanded that the Zambian government should remove Dr Saiwana over his conduct in the Tomorrow Investments saga, if the Norwegian government was to resume its support to ZAWA, Ambassador Gjos could neither confirm nor deny the reports.

"What I said is that I will not give any comment on that issue in the newspaper. As I have said, I will not have dialogue with the government in the newspaper whether it's Post or anyone else," Ambassador Gjos said.

During the signing ceremony of the second phase of Norwegian support valued at US $8 million [about K40.4 billion] for a five-year-period to Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) Ambassador Gjos expressed concern at the mismanagement of funds in ZAWA.

"There has been an issue of mismanagement of funds within ZAWA but we have been assured by the government that action will be taken to correct past mistakes. Hence we will continue to discuss the possible continued support to the Zambian wildlife sector with the government. This is an important sector for Zambia and we all agree that it has clearly not reached its full potential," said Ambassador Gjos.

"For the Norwegian Embassy, 2009 marks the end of nearly 25 years of support to South Luangwa National Park, a long standing partnership that will be celebrated later this year."

The Norwegian government commissioned a forensic audit on NORAD-funded Chisengu-Mfuwe and Mfuwe-Chilongozi roads, which revealed several irregularities in ZAWA's awarding of the contract to Tomorrow Investments.

The Norwegian Embassy submitted the report to the Zambian Ministry of Finance and National Planning, which subsequently reported Dr Saiwana, his management and former head of procurement Bwalya Selemani to the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) for investigations.

According to the forensic audit report dated March 18, 2009, Dr Saiwana had ignored several recommendations by the negotiating committee, which had observed that Tomorrow Investments had no capacity to work on the two roads.

"Contract was executed by the director general ZAWA [Dr Saiwana] with all the irregularities mentioned in the interim report," the report revealed.

"The DG [Dr Saiwana] has to take responsibility with possible action of breach of fiduciary duty. ZAWA has to investigate the employment contract of the DG and charge him for gross negligence for the loss incurred by the statutory body due to his negligent acts. Internal disciplinary procedures should be provided for that."

The audit report recommended that the Norwegian embassy investigates Dr Saiwana and Selemani for breaching the ZAWA-NORAD agreement when they awarded a road contract to Tomorrow Investments without the consent of NORAD.

The report recommended criminal prosecution of Tomorrow Investments for obtaining pecuniary advantage by false pretense and that the ACC investigates the company managing director Augustine Katotobwe.

"List of plant and equipment provided by Tomorrow Investments incorrect, falsely stated that the contractor owns them. The only equipment owned by the contractor is a 10-tonne tipper truck. Evidence: letter from [Road Development Agency] RDA dated 19th January, 2007," the report revealed.

"Based on the facts and observations, ZAWA did not use the funds provided by the [Norwegian] Embassy for the intended purpose and according there is no assets. We, therefore, are of the view that ZAWA should refund the funds disbursed by the Embassy in connection with this contract. The refund should comprise both funds disbursed to the contractor and undisbursed in the bank account."

Tourism minister Catherine Namugala on Tuesday revealed that the Norwegian government was upset over ZAWA's payment of K1.4 billion to Tomorrow Investments, which had no capacity to construct roads in Mfuwe in Eastern Province.

On January 5, 2008 then president Levy Mwanawasa issued a decree using his presidential powers to blacklist Tomorrow Investments over its failure to complete the construction of the Chisengu-Mfuwe road and many other projects around the country.

Labels: CORRUPTION, DONORS, LEWIS SAIWANA, NORWAY, TOMORROW INVESTMENTS, TORE GJOS, ZAWA

posted by MrK @ 7:43 PM