Maravi

Miyanda urges Rupiah to reject K5bn for NCC MPs

Miyanda urges Rupiah to reject K5bn for NCC MPs
By George Chellah
Sat 13 Feb. 2010, 04:01 CAT

HERITAGE Party leader Brigadier General Godfrey Miyanda yesterday urged President Rupiah Banda and his Cabinet to reject Vice-President George Kunda's recommendation to pay about K5 billion to ministers and other Lusaka-based parliamentarians attending the NCC because the issue is a scandal in the making.

Brig Gen Miyanda commended President Banda for disclosing that the Cabinet had not yet discussed the K5 billion plot. “Being number one soccer fan, the President must rule the proposal completely off side. Each day that passes reveals the fallacy of the NCC Act,” Brig Gen Miyanda said.

“In spite of being aware that the NCC Act was flawed from inception, the government went ahead with it. The Heritage Party has always maintained that the NCC Act is flawed. Under the NCC Act the Vice-President - cum- Minister of Justice has no authority or power to initiate the financial transaction that he has embarked on. It is curious that the NCC dodged the query when its spokesperson Mrs Mwangala Zaloumis declared that the NCC had nothing to do with what was decided outside of it.

The Cabinet must not entertain the memorandum for the following four reasons: first the Act does not identify the Vice-President or Minister of Justice as the responsible minister being referred to in seven of its eight parts; second the Act has vested financial responsibility in the Minister of Finance; third the need to disclose interest and fourth the moral question.

"First, in what capacity did Hon George Kunda originate the Cabinet memorandum recommending the payment of five billion kwacha to ministers and Lusaka-based MPs without input from the NCC? The NCC Act has eight parts; and in seven of these, no one has been designated as the responsible minister. Only in Part VII is the Minister of Finance named.

In the remaining seven parts the word 'minister' appears about eighteen times. In these seven parts [minister" is not defined and neither is it defined anywhere else in the whole Act. In Zambia, there is no minister or ministry called "The Minister". It is contended that "minister" cannot and must not be assumed or presumed."
He stated that it was mischievous for any minister to assume that the Act refered to him or her.
"Part seven of the Act deals with financial provisions. Under this part the Act has established the Constitutional Review Fund whose expenses are paid out of monies appropriated by parliament. This part specifically vests this Fund in the minister responsible for finance.

There is no provision for the Vice-President or Minister of Justice to initiate the award of allowances. In fact, the Act does not even state to which minister the NCC will submit their recommendations once completed! The Minister of Finance should have initiated the Cabinet memorandum," Brig Gen Miyanda stated. "Section 18 requires all members of the NCC to disclose their interest in any contract, proposed contract or other matter in which they are directly or indirectly interested. The five billion plot falls under the 'other matter' provision. Vice-President Kunda is a member of the NCC, he is Lusaka-based and is one of the beneficiaries and thus has an interest in the five billion plot. He should have declared interest under the NCC Act.

"The moral issue arises because Commissions of Inquiry, including Review Commissions, have a limited life and thus should not have conditions that smack of permanency to warrant a gratuity or even a pension. Why are the majority of trade union leaders silent over this scandal? Why should Zambians allow leaders to make such decisions and get away with it? It seems degrees are not helping these people to visualise what five billion translates into.

Don't they know how many bags of pamela five billion will buy, how many villages can be serviced or how many medicines could be bought?"

Brig Gen Miyanda also stated that accusing the opposition of being responsible for the floods was not only cheap politics but was aimed at distracting attention from the immediate scandal and displayed gross ignorance of the government system.

"In spite of high profile pronouncements against finger-pointing, government leaders are leading the onslaught. The floods are unashamedly being blamed on the opposition; but whether true or false, in emergency situations, solutions must be found to answer the people's cries; that is what governments are for: to come to the aid of the people instead of telling them who has messed up,”
Brig Gen Miyanda said. “It is inexcusable to look for scapegoats; when life is lost in the shanties of Lusaka and elsewhere. It is not the time to point at who has sinned. Governance is not a competition about who is better looking, who talks loudest or who travels everywhere. It is about solving people's problems, consoling them, protecting them and giving them hope. Cholera is not a joke; death is not a joke neither is the plunder of five billion kwacha!" Brig Gen Miyanda stated. "It is so frustrating to be in Zambia and remain a Zambian at a time such as this when corruption seems to be here to stay.

Perhaps government should change the law so that corruption officially becomes our way of life, instead of pretending that we are fighting it. The symbol of a Christian government is the sword, which makes the primary function of the government the protection of its citizens as well as to act decisively to counter any improper conduct done in the name of the Cabinet. I urge President Banda and the Cabinet to reject this memorandum and throw it into a waste paper basket!"

Labels: GODFREY MIYANDA, NCC, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 3:32 AM