Maravi

‘Officers were under ‘pressure' to award Bradwell contract'

‘Officers were under ‘pressure' to award Bradwell contract'
By Mwala Kalaluka
Fri 20 Jan. 2012, 13:50 CAT

THE Commission of Inquiry probing the controversial procurement of cargo scanners for ZRA says excessive pressure could have been piled on responsible public officers to hastily engage Bradwell International to operate and maintain the border equipment.

The Kingsley Chanda-led Commission of Inquiry stated in its final report submitted to President Michael Sata that there were serious irregularities in the awarding of contracts to Cargo Scan and Bradwell International on the operationilisation of the border scanners.

The Commission recommended that the contracts in question be terminated as they were premised on a faulty Statutory Instrument SI.

"The Commission noted with concern the speed that characterised the engagement of Bradwell International to an extent where the Permanent Secretary - Budget and Economic Affairs, Mr Emmanuel Ngulube was edging the ZRA to implement an observed faulty SI," the report read.

"The Commission noted with great concern the manner in which the contract was signed at unofficial location of Pamodzi Hotel on Sunday the 8th May, 2011. This gives an impression that there could have been some excessive pressure on the officers both at the Ministry of Finance and National Planning and ZRA regarding the Bradwell contract."

The report further stated that at the time, the SI No. 101, signed by former Republican vice-president George Kunda, was put in place when both Parliament and Cabinet had been dissolved.

The Commission stated that it failed to understand as to why the MMD government could not wait for a month and half, after the general elections, to make legitimate decisions involving a full complement of the legislature and the executive.

"The Commission was surprised at the pace at which Bradwell International was contracted to operate and maintain scanners even though only one Nuctech scanner had been installed at Chirundu," the Commission observed.

"The Commission found it extremely unfair to the Zambian Government to get 15 per cent of the revenues from the scanners while Bradwell International who did not even own the scanners were to get 85 per cent. This sharing ratio neither reflected the level of investment nor the effort on the part of Bradwell International. Further, it made the repayment of the loan by the Zambian Government difficult."

The Commission stated that as a result of SI No. 101, the importers and exporters were made to pay K12.3 billion kwacha in 24 days out of which Bradwell International was to receive K10.4 billion while the Zambian Government through ZRA was to receive a paltry K1.9 billion as per sharing ratio.

"The Commission observed that the actual intent of the SI was hidden in its formulation. For instance the SI did not give an inclination that the fees raised would be channeled to Bradwell International, a private company, for the operations and maintenance of scanners. The SI appeared like any other government instrument for raising revenue for the development of the country," the report read in part.

"The Commission failed to understand why the SI No. 101 allowed for collection of an inspection fee even at ports of entry where scanners were not deployed. If this contract was necessary, under normal circumstances, Bradwell International was to be paid for operation and maintenance of scanners based on fees collected from ports with scanners and Bradwell International had its presence."

The Commission further recommended the need to revise all policies and pieces of legislation that deal with awarding of public contracts following what transpired at the Zambia Revenue Authority.

Labels: ZRA

posted by MrK @ 3:26 PM