Maravi

Oil procurement should be liberalised - Milupi

Oil procurement should be liberalised - Milupi
By Moses Kuwema
Wed 18 Apr. 2012, 13:29 CAT

ALLIANCE for Development and Democracy president Charles Milupi says the oil procurement process should be liberalised. In an interview, Milupi said the government must remove the "one holder syndrome" of allowing a few companies to monopolise the oil procurement process.

"This is because such things like monopoly bring with it corruption. I think that the oil procurement process must be liberalised. We should have many people bringing in this oil; ultimately that reduces the price and cuts out the corruption. At the moment, everybody has to bid to bring in goods and then that is where the pressure on corruption is but if other people were able to bring in finished products and it has already been shown that if you bring in finished products, you can have the fuel cheaper than it is now," Milupi said.

He said the oil procurement process involved large amounts of money, hence it was attractive to corruption by those in power.

"That's the easiest way they can make lots of money in no time at all. And, therefore, when you are dealing with a corrupt regime, you have to understand that that is one of the areas that is very attractive for them. Because you have a contract worth trillions of kwacha and you just give it to one contractor, it means corrupt regimes can use such and ultimately the country does not gain," he said.

Milupi said even when he served as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, they questioned some of the oil deals.

"We questioned those deals especially the deal that was awarded to a company in Kenya, it was doubtful…By saying so, even the current procurement process, we should watch out that we do not repeat the same mistake," he said.

Milupi said there was need for the country to have an effective procurement process that should adhere to procedures and regulations.

Recently, chairman of the commission of inquiry into the Energy Regulation Board and oil procurement, Wynter Kabimba, disclosed that the government lost about K2 trillion between 2007 and 2011 in the oil procurement process through corruption and other malpractices by officers in the Ministry of Energy and Water Development, ERB and the Zambia Public Procurement Authority.

Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, OIL, PROCUREMENT SYSTEMS, WYNTER KABIMBA

posted by MrK @ 4:41 PM