Board's claims are nonsense - Chirwa
By Allan Mulenga and Gift Chanda
Mon 22 Apr. 2013, 14:00 CAT
PROFESSOR Clive Chirwa yesterday dismissed as nonsense the dissolved Zambia Railways Limited board members' claims that he wanted to live a lavish lifestyle and was making corrupt undertakings.
And government has dissolved the Zambia Railways Limited board with immediate effect. But dissolved board chairperson Mark Chona hoped investigative wings would move in to investigate allegations the board levelled against Prof Chirwa.
In an interview yesterday, Prof Chirwa, who is Zambia Railways Limited (ZRL) chief executive officer, explained that he differed with the board members because he was opposed to misuse of company funds through unnecessary board meetings.
"Dissolved board members' claims are nonsense. What happened was that at the beginning, when I came from United Kingdom to take up this position, yes, I had a letter which I brought with from my lawyers to negotiate my contract. And that negotiation was carried out and that was the end," he said.
"There was nothing which I was claiming apart from what I was claiming at the beginning when the negotiations began. That was concluded and I am not claiming any more. We went into negotiations like any other CEO going into a contract, and that is all I did."
Prof Chirwa said board members had been getting unnecessary sitting allowances through unplanned board meetings.
"There were differences because I stopped the misuse of company money to actually have board meetings which are unnecessary in order to get sitting allowances…if somebody goes to see the minister or to see the PS (permanent secretary) and claim sitting allowances, that was nonsense. That is what led to that (differences)," he said.
"We had 28 meetings in total and it has accumulated to KR470,000 instead of spending, for this quarter, KR58,000, which is actually the money we are supposed to spend. Remember that we haven't had the meeting itself which is a scheduled board meeting which is on April 30, 2013. Per sitting, it is KR3,000 for the chairperson and KR2,600 for board members. When I stopped this, things started going bad."
Prof Chirwa explained that board members used to claim allowances whenever they called for a meeting with the permanent secretary and the minister.
He said allowances were necessary if someone had done some work.
"But if somebody wants to go and see the minister or the PS and claim sitting allowance, that is unacceptable," he said.
Prof Chirwa said it was shocking that Zambians had a culture of demanding unnecessary allowances.
"I am very surprised that people in Zambia have got this attitude of getting allowances. This thing should come to an end," he said.
"Perhaps this story of Zambia Railways will bring up some sanity within the allowance culture where without doing anything, you get allowances. This should be stopped once and for all."
Prof Chirwa said he was shaken about the manner in which former board members executed their functions.
"In fact, I am totally shaken. This is something that does not exist in Europe. If somebody is running a company, like a CEO, he is the one running a company, not the board chairperson who is non-executive. I am really surprised, very surprised," said Prof Chirwa.
On the shifting of ZRL headquarters from Kabwe to Lusaka, Prof Chirwa said it was not his proposal but it was a decision made by the previous administration.
"When I came to take up this position, I found that RSZ (Railway Systems of Zambia) headquarters offices were here in Lusaka. It is actually the board that proposed that we should actually move here. We just maintained the decision which was done by the board we inherited from the previous administration," he said.
On his stay at Fallsway Luxury Apartment, Prof Chirwa said it was not his intention to stay there, but it was management's decision.
"I am not the only one who is staying at the apartment, even some government officials stay there," he said.
On the claims that he had appointed himself board chair of the tender committee of ZRL, Prof Chirwa said it was procedural that the chief executive officer of the company assumed the position of the chairperson of the tender committee.
On the allegation that it rejected his demand of US$560,000 annual salary (or K248 million per month) and a 25 per cent shareholding in ZRL at the end of his five-year contract, Prof Chirwa said it was common practice and part of his contract.
Prof Chirwa also said the board was dissolved because some of the board members were unproductive.
"They have been holding meetings and meetings. They want to start throwing dirt at me. All these things are documented. I came here to do my work. I didn't come here to be bothered. These people are very unproductive. They have been saying Clive Chirwa here and there'. They are just peddling lies. There are only a few people who are doing this," he said.
And the government has dissolved the board of Zambia Railways in a bid to bring "sanity" to the institution.
Communications minister Christopher Yaluma told The Post in an interview yesterday that the board was dissolved on Thursday last week.
He said a new board would soon be put in place to propel the turnaround of Zambia Railways and a thorough forensic audit into the operations and expenditures of the company would be conducted.
"To revamp ZRL, we need to have a harmonised environment. The environment should be highly conducive to achieve what we want to achieve. We need to have a stable climate with sound relationship between all the stakeholders involved. In an event of having various discrepancies or perceived misunderstandings, it will make the challenge very difficult for the government to achieve our intended goals. So it is in this spirit of trying to ensure we achieve our goals of rehabilitating ZRL and bring it to what it once used to be that we have taken our first step as the government to dissolve the board of Zambia Railways," he said.
"The board in reality was dissolved on Thursday and the letters were written. The only thing that was remaining was to have the letters picked. I wrote the letters late on Thursday and I signed them but we left for Mongu with the President and so they couldn't be circulated."
Asked if the board was in any way hindering the turnaround of ZRL, Yaluma said was not quite so.
On the board's claims of public resources abuses by the rail firm and if any probes would be instituted, Yaluma said the government would definitely institute investigations.
During a press briefing yesterday, Chona, who served as board chairperson of the Task force on Corruption, said, he smelt corruption in the running of the ZRL.
"We have provided the information, it is up to our friends the investigating team to act," he said.
The members said they were not bitter with the decision taken by government to dissolve them but accused transport minister Christopher Yaluma of pulling a fast one on them.
Four members, Chona, vice-chairperson Professor Oliver Saasa, and members Geoffrey Mulenga and Jonam Mwansa said they had recommended to Yaluma that Prof Chirwa be fired following irregularities in the managing of the railway firm.
"He Yaluma agreed during the meeting we had with him and said he would inform State House to proceed with our recommendation but the next thing we hear is that he was going to see the head of state to fire us…," Prof Saasa said.
He said it was a pity that the board was at the mercy of politicians.
"Boards are supposed to be independent. Boards must hire and fire. The point we are making is that you find that the tail is wagging the dog when it should be the other way round [because it is the dog that wags the tail. But because there is someone holding on to that tail, giving it so much strength to be able to wag the whole dog, it was not the case," he said.
And Mulenga said the dissolved board officials were not bitter about being fired.
"We are very happy we are out of this problem, we can have peaceful sleep instead of thinking about what is going to happen next," Mulenga said.
"But the next board, who will replace us, if it has the people's interest at heart, will definitely not tolerate what Prof Chirwa was advancing. Good corporate governance demands that the CEO of the company is far away from tender processes."
The members maintained that Prof Chirwa's counter allegations that they were demands huge sums of money in sitting allowances were ridiculous.
"It is a heap of nonsense that we demanded to be paid K500 million," said Mwansa.
Five ZRL board members on Saturday alleged several illegal and unapproved actions by Prof Chirwa, including an alleged attempt to shift the company headquarters from Kabwe to Lusaka.
The five members, Chona, chairman, Prof Saasa, vice-chairman, and members Geoffrey Mulenga Irene Mbewe, Mwansa, dismissed Prof Chirwa's statements carried by the Daily Nation newspaper to the effect that they were demanding up to K500 million in sitting allowances.
Labels: CLIVE CHIRWA, MARK CHONA, ZAMBIA RAILWAYS
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Chona calls for responsive leadership
By George Zulu in Monze
Fri 17 Sep. 2010, 04:00 CAT
ZAMBIA needs leaders who are not only Christian in name but have a wide and deep understanding of challenges facing the people, Mark Chona has observed.
Addressing hundreds of parishioners during the celebrations marking the 20th anniversary for Fr Cletus Mwiila’s priesthood at Chikuni parish in Monze last weekend, Chona said Zambia needed leaders who were Christians not in name only but those responsive to the cries of the people.
“The nation needs leaders who are Christ-like. We increasingly understand how tough it is to be a good shepherd. Your rich experience should help you to strengthen the Church’s ability to face challenging times ahead in our country for Zambia has never faced such a complex and potentially dangerous situation in its history,” he said.
Chona said it was regrettable that the country was experiencing the formation of political parties and churches, a scenario which he said seemed to be for monetary gain.
“Indeed it has become true, with so many ‘tu ntemba’ churches, that some people now use religion as pretext for financial and political ambitions. Ordinary and innocent people are bound to be confused.
There is real danger that more and more money, and I mean billions of kwacha, will be used to control people instead of improving their welfare. The rich will be more powerful and will in future seek to control and manipulate the institutions of democratic governance exploit the majority poor for whom the Church speaks,” Chona said.
He said the Church, as the body of Christ, could not be conformed to the world, adding that well-grounded priests who, like the liberation leaders who embodied Zambia’s founding principles of integrity, truth and honour, must remain vigilant and steadfast in defending the truth.
“For truth cannot be compromised. Lies, no matter how well laundered, cannot turn into truth. Yes, truth gains strength under pressure; stands the test of time and survives any compromise. There can be no compromise between right and wrong; good and evil. Jesus ,who taught with authority, often took a firm position, for example, when he chased those who turned His Father’s house into a den of thieves. I sincerely believe that when there is so much uncertainty and so much greed; it is time for the voice of conscience, the Church, to call the nation to order,” he said.
Chona said it was better to be condemned for doing the right thing than to be applauded for doing the wrong thing.
Labels: CLETUS MWIILA, LEADERSHIP, MARK CHONA
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Chona cites the pitfalls of exploitation, corruption
By George Zulu in Mazabuka
Tue 13 July 2010, 14:30 CAT
EXPLOITATION and corruption will not help resolve high levels of poverty the country is experiencing, Matantala Rural Integrated Development Enterprise (M-RIDE) board chairman Mark Chona has observed.
Addressing traditional leaders and other stakeholders in chief Hanjalika’s chiefdom, Chona said he was saddened by the high levels of exploitation and corruption in the country especially during the purchase of maize from small scale farmers in rural areas.
“It is sad that people have surrendered their rights for few pieces of silver. The exploitation and corruption in this country will not help resolve high levels of poverty, hence the need to invest in education and infrastructure development and skills empowerment for many Zambians to benefit,” Chona said.
“I think there are so many things that need to be done to address problems faced by our people in rural areas. We need serious investment in education in rural areas, we need serious investment in roads and marketing of farm produce in rural areas in order to address high levels of poverty which are very undesirable.”
Chona challenged headmen and other stakeholders to look after the resources, which M-RIDE through the Norwegian government gives out.
“Zambians are drivers for change and the development that you seek every day can only become a reality if you accept change and that change lies in you. Development is not taken but done by you, so you must not be cheated by people who come and preach development because the power of change lies bare in your hands and you have the power to drive change,” said Chona.
Labels: AFRICAN PARLIAMENTARIANS NETWORK AGAINST CORRUPTION, M-RIDE, MARK CHONA
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Chona observes major crisis in education system
By George Zulu in Monze
Mon 28 June 2010, 04:30 CAT
MATANTALA Rural Integrated Development Enterprise (M-RIDE) board chairman Mark Chona has observed that there is a crisis of major proportions in the education system in the country especially in rural areas, which needs critical attention.
In an interview in Monze after touring three chiefdoms namely Hanjalika, Mwaanza and Chona in Mazabuka and Monze districts to check on the infrastructure built by Matantala with the support of the Norwegian government, Chona said the progression of education in rural areas was not encouraging.
He said the progression of pupils from grade one to grade nine was very disappointing and certainly showed the collapse of the system.
“The reality on the ground is that there is need for quality education at every single level. We should not merely look at quantity but quality from what is happening in classrooms. Look at the number of children who pass from grade seven to eight and nine to 10. It is very discouraging and disappointing. It only confirms that there is a crisis in the system,” Chona said. “Just look at those who are squeezed out of school at grade seven; there are so many.
We need to work together even with those who think they can go to Parliament, we need to work with them. There is nobody who is useless in addressing this problem, and a girl child is a critical issue especially when you look at the figures, which we have seen in each of the schools we had visited. It shows how critical the issue of education is in rural areas. These figures speak volumes, too many girls are squeezed out of school at a very tender age and exposed to early pregnancies ending their careers.”
However, Chona expressed gratitude over the realisation by some parents, teachers and pupils of the need for education.
“With improved infrastructure development, many people would like to get back to school. At Nkonkola High a 52-year-old grandmother has gone back to school and she is doing grade nine. Hamudonga Community School 29-year-old mother has gone back to school and she is in grade six, a 33-year-old man at Moomba is in grade nine,” said Chona. “This is due to improved infrastructure. People can no longer feel ashamed to enter classes because they have desks and better classes.”
During its three years of existence in three chiefdoms in Choma and Monze, Matantala has constructed 86 classrooms, 20 teachers’ houses, six clinics and rehabilitated existing houses, schools and dip tanks.
Labels: EDUCATION, M-RIDE, MARK CHONA
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Zambians won't allow thieves to rule, declares Chona
By Chibaula Silwamba
Saturday August 16, 2008 [04:01]
Zambians will not allow thieves and greedy leaders to rule and destroy their country, former Task Force on corruption chairman Mark Chona has declared. And outgoing British High Commissioner to Zambia Alistair Harrison promised to be visiting Zambia frequently. During a farewell luncheon, which he and his wife Victoria hosted for High Commissioner Harrison on Thursday at their farmhouse in
Lusaka’s Makeni area, Chona said despite the situation being worrisome in Zambia due to President Levy Mwanawasa’s illness, Zambians would not allow thieves and those with narrow minds to rule the country.
“This country was meant to be stable because even in the most difficult times, we survived and even thrived. But there are people, of course, who thrive in chaos but here they have not been allowed and they will not be allowed whether they fall in the category of thieves or those who have chronic propensity for power,” Chona said.
“Even those have not been allowed before and they will not be allowed even now because the Zambian people want unity, they want peace, they want stability, they security and do want continuity on what Mwanawasa has built so far…
This edifice which President Mwanawasa has built on the foundation made by former presidents Dr Kenneth Kaunda and Frederick Chiluba will not be allowed to be destroyed by greedy people; by people who have very narrow interests.
Zambians have standards and you can drive them to the edge but they will not actually go beyond the precipice.”
Chona said Zambians would withstand whatever difficulties they might face.
“Let me refer to the current situation; I know that as you leave Zambia probably you are worried what will happen to this country.
The President is sick and we are all concerned. Anxiety and worry are not good for the health of an individual; they are not even good for the health of the nation,” Chona observed.
He said those who thrived on chaos would be overwhelmed by the spirit of unity and love among Zambians.
“I do believe sincerely that as you leave the country, do know that, yes, there are concerns, there are anxieties but very often it is the success in solving those anxieties that has given Zambia the strength that it actually has,” Chona said. “The investors, yes they be worried as to whether the situation will be the same but I think if they look back at the history of our country, they will actually know that this country has overcome some of the most difficult problems and they will overcome whatever problems there maybe because they Zambians have always been united and flourished in unity.”
However, Chona observed that most political parties had problems. He observed that following President Mwanawasa’s illness, the ruling MMD had also been engulfed in problems.
“Now, we look at our political parties, very few don’t have problems. PF has problems – there are discussions, UNIP has problems, MMD now because of the President’s illness you can see the problems but one thing which is important for us is that Zambia and Zambians are like their eagle.
The noble eagle in its flight far, far away. They have an eagle’s point of view,” he said.
Chona also commended High Commissioner Harrison for his support to the fight against corruption and respect for traditional rulers in the country among many other things that he had done in his three years in Zambia.
“We just want you to know that from the depth our hearts that we are profoundly grateful, whether it is in supporting the Task Force on Corruption without which not very little would have been achieved.
For you personally, you went beyond the call of duty in doing some of the things which I had to ask you to do,” Chona said. “Alistair has been in many ways extra-ordinary; he is extremely gentle.
It is fantastic to see how respectful he has been, visiting our traditional leaders and everything that has been said or done by him has not passed our attention. We have always listened to what he has had to say and as a result of his work, together with his diplomatic colleagues, I think Zambia has benefited a lot.”
And High Commissioner Harrison said he had always been positive about Zambia because it was a peaceful and stable country. He said Zambia was such a peaceful, stable and friendly country.
“That is the most precious thing that Zambia has achieved since independence and before. It is a tremendous example to Africa and the world and that peace and tranquility will continue to be Zambia’s greatest asset,” he said.
“I have been very positive about Zambia because I believe that the future stretches out in a very positive way; the economy will continue to grow and the Vision 2030 middle income country status is a challenging one but an attainable one.”
High Commissioner Harrison said he and his wife Sara were sad that they were leaving Zambia. However, he promised to be visiting Zambia frequently.
“It’s a great sadness leaving Zambia; we are devastated to be going. It has been an absolutely wonderful three years here in Zambia,” High Commissioner Harrison said.
“I also know for absolute certain that my family and I will come back to Zambia as often as we can; we have so many friends here. It is such a wonderful country.”
The farewell luncheon was attended by Vatican Ambassador to Zambia Apostolic Nuncio Nicola Girasoli, European Union delegation leader Dr Derek Fee, Zambian Airways chief executive officer Mutembo Nchito who is also Task Force on Corruption prosecutor, French Ambassador to Zambia, Irish Ambassador to Zambia Bill Nolan, Finnish Ambassador to Zambia Sinika Antila, veteran politician Simon Zukas and his wife Cynthia, Stanbic Bank managing director Joseph Chikolwa, Radio Phoenix managing director Errol Hickey who is also Zambia Tourism Board chairman, Post managing editor Amos Malupenga, among others.
Labels: CORRUPTION, MARK CHONA, TASK FORCE
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Levy was misinformed about me, says Chona
By Amos Malupenga
Sunday January 06, 2008 [03:00]
Former Task Force on Corruption chairman Mark Chona has disclosed that he was relieved of his duties because President Levy Mwanawasa was misinformed about him. In a profile interview, Chona said he left the Task Force a happy man, knowing that he had done nothing wrong.
He said President Mwanawasa was fed with wrong information by those who have become professionals at manipulation, hence the decision against him. Chona said he was even accused of meeting with Post editor Fred M’membe when he had not done so.
He said before he was relieved of his duties, President Mwanawasa told him at State House that he was informed that he met with M’membe, among other issues.
“You see, leaders make decisions based on the information they are given, right or wrong,” Chona said.
“When I was leaving, I held my cross and said, ‘I am sorry, your sources could be your worst enemies’. But it his exit from the Task Force came just at the right time because somebody else had to show that these cases are extremely difficult. I knew that would be the case.”
Labels: MARK CHONA, TASK FORCE
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