Zesco halts pole supply contract

Zesco halts pole supply contract
By Mwala Kalaluka
Wed 24 Oct. 2012, 14:00 CAT

ZESCO has halted the final award of a one-year contract for the supply of wooden poles amounting to billions of kwacha following allegations that defence minister Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba solicited the same.

Zesco head of public relations and marketing Besty Phiri said in an interview yesterday that had the tender not been under investigations, the power utility would have gone ahead to award the contract to any of the six companies that were preliminarily notified.

"This is the tender that is a subject of investigations, isn't it?" Phiri responded when asked about the status of the tender following the expiry of the preliminary notification of award on October 19, 2012.

"It is very difficult to make a comment at the moment because it is subject of investigations. It is very difficult until the investigations have been concluded. It is halted until after investigations are concluded."

Phiri said if there were no issues around the tender in question, the whole process and the relevant procedures would have been exhausted.

"The whole process is transparent and that is why we gave a notice. We informed all the people that participated and even the people that have been awarded," said Phiri. "It is very open and transparent."

Sources told The Post that Mwamba who is PF member of parliament for Kasama commonly known as GBM, personally pressed Zesco management to award the wooden pole contract to his company, Arizona Marketing & Distributors.

Following The Post's revelations on the issue, the Anti-Corruption Commission ACC, through its public relations manager, Timothy Moono, said the Commission had launched a preliminary inquiry into the allegations.

Moono said a preliminary inquiry would determine whether full-fledged investigations into the matter would follow.

When reached for a comment over allegations, Mwamba said the fact that he was in government did not mean that his family should be stopped from engaging in business activities.