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Minions have destroyed evidence at MoH – Milupi

Minions have destroyed evidence at MoH – Milupi
Written by George Chellah
Wednesday, July 01, 2009 3:51:29 PM

PARLIAMENTARY Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairperson Charles Milupi yesterday said minions have destroyed evidence in the on-going forensic audit at the Ministry of Health. In an interview, Milupi said corruption had its own associated vices.

"When a nation is gripped by corruption, corruption has got its own attendant vices. It's not just the abuse of public resources and the like. There are attendant vices also if you look at Italy... maybe the mafia they begin to create rules within the country," Milupi said.

"These people who are corrupt, they have got their own spheres of influence and one of the most visible of course is the attempt to destroy evidence and paper trails."

He said the unfolding trend of organised crime in the nation was worrying.

"What worries about that story of documents missing, it's clearly the evidence that we are beginning to see in our country. Organised crime that is now attempting to destroy paper trails. One man cannot destroy paper trail. It's just got to be a group of people involved in the same thing that will destroy," Milupi said.

"...Because it's not the people who are targeted in the matter. It's the people working with them, their minions. These are the ones that will then try to destroy evidence by stealing files and so on. So the worrying thing is that we are beginning to see the emergence of things like that."

Milupi said incidences such as the ones where documents are missing at the Ministry of Health headquarters should make Zambians resolve as a nation that they do indeed have zero tolerance to corruption.

"There is need for them [government] to move very urgently. In fact, they should have moved very urgently in 2006 when I was telling them that there is very serious abuse at the Ministry of Health. What we have seen is that government is always reluctant until they have some external forces who want to push them," Milupi said.

"Yes, not only move urgently but move much more seriously. You know when you highlight these things that there will be an attempt to destroy evidence, you know that! And the law enforcement officers should have known.

"If now we allow the situation where paper trail and evidence is destroyed not only will the corrupt people who are involved be culpable even the law enforcement officers. How did they allow a situation where evidence is being destroyed, where are they?"

He said the law enforcement officers were also on trial in this matter.

"Government itself is on trial to show the seriousness in fighting abuse of public resources," he said.

Milupi said there was need to beef up the Auditor General's office.

He also suggested that cooperating partners should make available resources to the Auditor General's office and that the government must allow outside forensic auditors to come and beef up the office.

Recently, Auditor General Anna Chifungula revealed that the forensic audit in the K27 billion scam at the Ministry of Health (MoH) had delayed because most of the documents were missing at the ministry headquarters.

Chifungula said the forensic audit at the Ministry of Health was still in progress.

"They are still ongoing, the problem we have had is because of the lack of audit trail. Most of the documents are missing from the ministry so now you have to start building from other sources and that will take a bit of more time. It does take time because now you are scrutinising other things as well," Chifungula explained.

"The documents are not available at the ministry, they are missing and that has delayed the audit because the auditors have to look at other means to get the information."

However, she said the audit in Lusaka Province was expected to conclude yesterday.

"We have to proceed to other provinces as well. But for Lusaka we should be through by the end of the month," Chifungula said.

Asked whether the amount of money misappropriated at the Ministry of Health still stood at K27 billion, Chifungula responded: "That I can't say now because the audit is still going on."

Last month, Chifungula revealed that preliminary investigations at the Ministry of Health indicated that K27 billion was stolen and there was a possibility that more money might have been stolen by civil servants.

She said the amounts of money stolen from the Ministry of Health were much higher than the initially reported K10 billion.

Labels: ANNA CHIFUNGULA, CHARLES MILUPI, CORRUPTION, MINISTRY OF HEALTH

posted by MrK @ 2:52 PM