Maravi

Senior official testifies in ZRA commission of inquiry

Senior official testifies in ZRA commission of inquiry
By Gift Chanda in Chirundu
Mon 14 Nov. 2011, 14:00 CAT

IT was irresponsible for the MMD government to contract Bradwell International to operate the cargo scanner at Chirundu border when ZRA had the capacity to carry out the work, says a senior ZRA official.

And the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) says Bradwell International's input on the operations of the scanners did not warrant its 85 per cent claim on total revenues raised.

Speaking when the Kingsley Chanda-led commission of inquiry set up to investigate the operations of ZRA toured the Chirundu one-stop border post on Saturday, ZRA Chirundu border assistant commissioner Arnold Nkoma said it was unwise for the MMD government to contract Bradwell

International, a private firm, to run operations that bordered on the country's security.

The MMD government before leaving power engaged Bradwell International of UK to operate border x-ray cargo scanners for 10 years despite having some ZRA staff undergoing specialised training to handle such operations.

Bradwell International of UK, through its local subsidiary, Border Protection Company Zambia Limited (BPCZ), was engaged through direct bidding (formerly single sourcing) to operate the border scanner at Chirundu.

Under the contract, Bradwell was supposed to get 85 per cent of the revenue collected at the border while the remaining 15 per cent went to the government.

Former Vice-President George Kunda hastily signed Statutory Instrument number 101 of 2011 on August 28, 2011 as an amendment to the customs and excise Act to pave way for the introduction of an examination fee, which is not a tax but a charge towards the management of the scanners.

However, President Michael Sata has since terminated the said contract which is the subject of the commission's investigations.

"In the first place, we didn't even need to engage Bradwell International because we had the capacity at ZRA to run the scanner," Nkoma said. "We had the skill and the manpower, the only thing that was lacking was technical expertise to do maintenance works on the scanners."

He disclosed that at the time Bradewell was single-sourced, the UK institution did not even have the skilled manpower to operate the scanners.

"Bradwell came into this contract without even the personnel. The personnel they recruited were local officers some of whom were just clearing agents," Nkoma said.

He said Bradwell International used ZRA facilities to train its staff on how to operate the machine.

"They used the ZRA facilities at our training centre in Chelston to train their staff," he said.

Nkoma said even the amount that the government agreed to be paying Bradwell international was unjustifiable.

He told the commission that Bradwell International invested literally nothing in the facility to warrant its 85 per cent claim on proceeds from the scanners.

Nkoma said Bradwell International just brought in two paper trays, a computer monitor and a radio device.

Labels: MICHAEL SATA, MMD, ZRA

posted by MrK @ 7:00 PM