Marching backwards in very long strides
By The Post
Sun 14 Nov. 2010, 04:00 CAT
THERE is need for Rupiah Banda to pay attention to the corruption in the country’s road sector.
We say this because corruption remains rife in this very important sector, with bribery, intimidation and fraud in most cases hiding beneath a veneer of apparent compliance through specified procurement and financial management procedures.
Not so long ago, the Auditor General’s office exposed glaring irregularities surrounding the Road Development Agency (RDA). The report for 2006-2009 revealed that the RDA overcommitted the government by over K1 trillion through overprocurement of contracts in the 2008 annual work plan. We were also told that the agency did not retire imprest totalling K19.1 billion since 2004. The report also highlighted issues of unauthorised contract variations and overruns in some road projects in Lusaka and Copperbelt provinces amounting to K93 billion among others. It is also common knowledge that donors were the first to raise concerns on these irregularities and withheld funding to the road sector pending the release of the audit report. After the report was released, we are aware that the donors made recommendations of what they expected the government to do to for them to resume funding to the sector. Some donors have now slowly started releasing funds on selected projects in the road sector.
But given the serious nature of the road sector, it is difficult to understand why Rupiah left the situation unattended to until the donors raised concern. Does it mean that no one was aware of the wrong things that were going on at RDA? Did it have to take donors to sound the alarm and demand an audit over the irregularities that had become the order of the day? Does it mean that there is no other body that could have been checking what this agency was doing? What happened to the so-called commitment towards the fight against corruption, continuing with Levy Mwanawasa’s legacy?
Many have questioned Rupiah and his government’s commitment to the fight against corruption. Rupiah and his minions have been very defensive over these issues, denying the existence of corruption. However, the developments at RDA are but some of the clear indications that there is little, if not nothing, happening with the fight against corruption. And we agree with Citizens Forum executive secretary Simon Kabanda that there is no way the RDA could overcommit the government to a tune of over K1 trillion without their knowledge. Rupiah and his minions cannot play ignorant on this matter.
Any country that is serious with development and improving the living standards of people cannot allow the mess that Rupiah tolerates in the road sector. In countries where such things are not tolerated, Mike Mulongoti wouldn’t be in government today.
Roads are the arteries of modern economic activity. They play a key role in our economy but most of them are in a bad state, and non-existent in some cases. The rainy season is here and the poor state of some of these roads will actually worsen. Very soon some areas in the country will be cut off as the water levels rise in the water bodies. These same roads that have been neglected are being used for transportation of farming inputs. The country’s mining sector also heavily relies on the roads to move minerals and equipment. Given the major role that road infrastructure plays in this country, it is surprising that Rupiah and his minions could allow the situation to get to a level where donors could withhold funding for road works.
We know that there is some funding that has been obtained from other sources – probably less demanded sources in terms of accountability. But that is not a solution because there are many roads that require the government’s attention and we could have still managed to benefit from the donors who have withheld funding to the road sector. Given the serious need for good infrastructure, roads in particular, it is saddening that we could find ourselves in a situation where donors have to withhold funds on account of lack of accountability.
It is not too long ago from the time donors withheld funding to the Ministry of Health following revelations of theft by ministry workers involving K10 billion. Yes, the donors have resumed funding after measures were taken to stop the theft, but it remains to be seen whether or not the measures taken are sustainable. And one would have thought that we could have drawn a few lessons from that episode to avoid further embarrassment involving blatant abuse of donor funding meant to benefit our people, especially the poor. But it is clear that we did not learn from that episode and it is difficult to understand whether Rupiah and his minions have any sense of care at all.
It is very clear that there is no political will in the fight against corruption. If there was, if Rupiah and his minions were trying to be seen to be doing something, we would not have had such embarrassing developments regarding abuse of donors funds. We would have at least seen a reduction in irregularities in the Auditor General’s report as opposed to the current scenario. If Rupiah and his minions were serious, they would not have been allowing questionable deals to be signed right under their noses, sometimes involving their kith and kin. It is amazing that Rupiah and his friends have so much energy and time to feather their nests and work towards securing their hold on power when there is so much serious work to be done. Our people wallow in abject poverty, the education system leaves much to be desired, the health sector is dogged with numerous challenges ranging from poor remuneration, shortage of drugs and staff, among other issues.
Any serious government would be working tirelessly to ensure that people are liberated from the shackles of underdevelopment. Any serious government would ensure that donor aid and local public resources are used prudently and for the benefit of the people. Any serious government would ensure that those trying to rob the people, the kleptomaniacs, are caged and pay back. Any serious government would put its people first. But that is not the case with Rupiah’s government. All we see is serious work towards self-preservation and enrichment; praises for kleptomaniacs; pomposity towards donors when they question the usage of their tax-payers’ monies.
But this arrogance will not take Rupiah anywhere. They should sort out the problems that have dogged the road sector and put things on track. We know that there are some roads that have been done and others, which are being worked on in Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western provinces. But this is just a fraction of the country’s road network and there are many other roads that need attention. Rupiah and his friends need to address the problems at the RDA. We are aware that changes have been made at management and board levels but this is not enough. There is need to address the corruption that exists even beyond RDA. One cannot just focus on the government agencies without looking at the ministry involved, in this case the Ministry of Works and Supply. The rot starts from there up to the lowest levels. And one cannot address the problems at the bottom without paying attention to the top. Empty talk about the so-called measures that have been put in place to fight corruption will not do.
This country needs serious resolve and commitment to fight abuse of resources and ensure that this terrible cancer which has permeated all echelons of our society is stopped. The thieving that is currently going on should be stopped forthwith or our people should forget about any meaningful development.
No one will develop Zambia for us. We have a duty and responsibility to develop this country. We will get all the aid we need but as long as we do not have integrity, a sense of honesty and justice, we will not achieve much; we will be marching backwards in very long strides.
Labels: CORRUPTION, MINISTRY OF WORKS AND SUPPLY, RDA, SIMON KABANDA
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It’s difficult to believe RDA over-committed govt - Kabanda
By Moses Kuwema
Sun 14 Nov. 2010, 04:00 CAT
SIMON Kabanda has observed that it is difficult to believe that the RDA over-committed the government without it knowing.
Commenting on the revelations in the Auditor General’s report in which the Road Development Agency over-committed the government to over K1 trillion in road contracts and the subsequent firing of some of its directors, Kabanda argued that the Minister of Works and Supply as the ‘overall boss’ must have known about the issue.
“The over-commitment was not done without the government knowing because the Minister of Works and Supply has authority over the RDA so he is supposed to know what is happening with the institution that he oversees. The minister oversees all the contracts that the RDA enters into,” Kabanda, who is also Citizens Forum executive secretary, said.
He also said the issue of over-commitment could also have been used to siphon money into people’s pockets and as such called for a thorough investigations and bringing to book everyone involved.
And Kabanda has said there is need for the Auditor General’s office to be given power to prosecute cases of misappropriation that are highlighted in their reports.
He said with the current situation, the Auditor General’s office risked becoming meaningless.
“If the Auditor General had the powers to prosecute, by now those people could have been prosecuted. The government must review the powers of the Auditor General so that they don’t just end at giving us the report but go further to prosecute,” Kabanda said.
Kabanda said the firing of directors at the RDA was not enough and called for further investigations into the matter.
Labels: CORRUPTION, MINISTRY OF WORKS AND SUPPLY, RDA, SIMON KABANDA
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More funds misappropriated at Ministry of works and Supply, Ministry of Local Government and Zambia Police
Friday, February 12, 2010, 7:15
Auditor General Anna Chifungula has disclosed over K12 billion was misapplied at the Ministry of Works and Supply on the completion of Chirundu Border Facilities and the rehabilitation of the Independence Stadium.
According to her report for the financial year ended 2008, the Ministry received a total of K15,000,000,000 and only K2,927,701,781 was spent on redesigning of the stadium while K12,072,298,219 was used for the border facilities.
The report has revealed that as at June 2009 works on the rehabilitation of the stadium had stalled.
Report has also exposed that out of a total K7 billion budgeted and released for a project, an amount of K440,828,830 was incurred leaving a balance of over 2 billion which was not utilized on the project despite two (2) interim payment certificates totaling K748,604,966 being issued in favour of the contractor.
However, the contractor was paid K383, 133,650 in March 2009 from the 2009 allocation.
On the missing payment vouchers the report has revealed that there were payments amounting to K457,063,500 involving thirteen(13) transaction in 2007 and K23,188,765 involving (4) transaction in 2008 which were not vouched and were either missing or lacked supporting documents such as receipts, local purchase orders and quotations among others.
Financial irregularities at the same Ministry were also recorded in the management of fuel, unaccounted for stores and unretired imprest.
Report states that during the year under review there were no receipts and disposal details about the procurement of fuel costing K1, 387,500,000 involving thirty (30) transactions and a further over K 70 billion involving 6 transaction procurements for stores was not accounted for.
The report further reveals that over K6 billion was also misapplied in unretired imprest involving one hundred and thirty seven (137) transactions paid to various officers in 2007 and 35 transactions in 2008 respectively.
Ministry of Local Government and Housing
The Auditor General’s (AG’s) report for the financial year ended 2008 has revealed that about K1, 553,928,015 meant for grants to local authorities were misapplied at the Ministry of Local Government and Housing headquarters.
According to the report, the misapplied funds were on unrelated activities such as payment of members’ subscription fees to ACCA and CIMA, and printing of Christmas cards among others.
Responding to the misapplication of funds on September 29, 2009, the then ministry’s Controlling Officer stated that most payments were related to general grants and House of Chiefs activities.
However, it was noted that the House of Chiefs had their own budget line and therefore the propriety of making payment from the general grant was questionable.
The AG’s report also revealed that the ministry misapplied a total of K14, 920,000,000 on the procurement of one hundred hearses out of the total amount of K50 billion provided for recurrent grants to local authorities.
Zambia Police
The Zambia Police Service entered into contractual obligations amounting to K6,765,654,320 for the procurement of motor vehicles for the service disregarding a budget provision of K2,990,000,000.
This has resulted in an over commitment of K3,775,654,320 as has been revealed in the Auditor General’s (AG’s) report for the financial year ended 2008.
The controlling officer for the service stated in her response that the over commitment would be taken care of since the department had a three year budget plan framework called MTEF.
However, in their minutes of October 27, 2008, the central tender committee advised that it was a misdirection to commit next year’s budget to current procurements.
The AG’s report also revealed that although a total amount of K2, 990,000,000 was released, the service made payments in amounts totaling K3, 477,902,208, resulting in excess expenditure of K487, 902,208.
In explaining the excess expenditure, the controlling officer stated that the additional funds were obtained from Appropriation-In-Aid which was brought forward from the previous year.
The AG’s report however states that, the explanation was not satisfactory as Appropriation-In-Aid is meant for a particular financial year and can therefore not be carried forward to another financial year.
The report states that all unspent funds are supposed to be surrendered to the treasury at the end of each financial year.
ZANIS
Labels: ANNA CHIFUNGULA, CORRUPTION, MINISTRY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, MINISTRY OF WORKS AND SUPPLY, POLICE
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Mulongoti backs calls to block Mpombo at convention
By Patson Chilemba and George Chellah
Sun 10 Jan. 2010, 04:01 CAT
WORKS and supply minister Mike Mulongoti yesterday supported calls by MMD youths to beat and block former defence minister George Mpombo from attending the convention, saying a nuisance should not be allowed at the convention. But MMD national youth chairman and former Kabwe Central member of parliament Patrick Musonda said Mpombo is free to attend the convention.
Commenting on MMD youth league president Daniel Tembo's statement that youths would wait for Mpombo at the convention and he should kiss it goodbye because they would not allow him to stand, Mulongoti said people should be in right standing with the party for them to be allowed to attend the convention.
“Let me tell you something, our party says for you to remain a member, you must be in good standing with the party, in your conduct, everything put together; you must be in good standing. If in the assessment of the party, your conduct is not in good standing, we have got every right to stop you from coming to contest the election, to stop you from continuing to be a nuisance,” Mulongoti said.
“How can you allow a nuisance to come to a convention? We want to go there as members to deliberate and eventually elect ourselves. A nuisance will not be admitted there because they will cause problems for us. We want good members with good standing to come to the convention.”
Mulongoti said spoilers should not be allowed to attend the convention because they might spoil the fun.
“You mentioned who and who? Yah, on others…, I have answered on Mr Mpombo first on the convention, who are the others?” he asked.
Reminded that the youths had also threatened to deal with former Sinazongwe member of parliament Syacheye Madyenkuku, FDD president Edith Nawakwi, Patriotic Front (PF) secretary General Wynter Kabimba and many others whom they said were insulting President Banda, Mulongoti said MMD youths were responsible but they were sending a message that political leaders should not be overly aggressive by demonizing the leadership of other political parties.
“I don't think that is fair. If you listened to our debate with Mr Kabimba, he thinks the use of unpalatable language is acceptable. I don't think in MMD we believe in that. What we want is that we must civilize our politics where we treat each other with respect,” Mulongoti said.
But Musonda disowned the MMD youths that warned Mpombo against going to the convention.
“There are only provincial, district, constituency and branch youth wings. We don't have yet a youth league as an organisation within the MMD. The party constitution has never provided for that. The hierarchy is such that a national youth chairman is the most superior personnel, then under the national youth chairman there are provincial youth chairmen, then district youth chairmen, then constituency youth chairmen, then the ward youth chairmen and branch youth chairmen. That's what it is, so there is no title in the youth wing of MMD as president,” Musonda said.
“Those who came to me as a national youth chairman I don't know them and I don't recognize them. This group of youths who came to your office they have got no blessing from the MMD leadership, we don't know them. They don't have the mandate to speak on behalf of the party youth wing. MMD is the founder of democracy in this country and that is the main principle, which MMD was founded on. And the people of Zambia accepted MMD just because of that democratic movement, so we are the pioneers and the preachers of democracy in the political dispensation of this country.”
He encouraged those that wanted to contest the elections at the MMD convention to freely do so.
“Coming to the calls that they are saying that they would ban and victimise Mpombo and ban him from attending the convention, that is wrong. In MMD we believe in democracy. Whoever wants to aspire, even the national chairman said that, they are free to come and can contest any position from the president and to a trustee at the convention,” Musonda said.
“So in this party, which is democratic, me as a youth national chairman… Mpombo is free if he will qualify to come and attend the convention and contest the position of his choice and that is good for him because outside that, he is growing wings as though he is very popular within the party membership.
“There are a lot of people that I know who are vying, who might come. Let them come…if they lose they will lose genuinely. If we are going to bar anyone from coming to contest, it means that we will just make them grow big for nothing.”
But MMD Lusaka Province youth chairman Chris Chalwe admitted that he knew Daniel Tembo.
“Those are Daniel Tembo's views and they do not reflect the views of the youths. We don't have an MMD youth league president or the youth league,” Chalwe said. “So what Mr Tembo is saying has nothing to do with the youth leadership. I know Daniel Tembo, he is an overzealous guy. He has no position, he is just an ordinary member of the party.”
MMD youths in Lusaka on Friday warned that they would block Mpombo from attending the convention.
“This is 2010, Mpombo should not even attend the convention because we will cut off his legs and all those who are insulting President Banda will not be spared,” said Tembo. “We are financially sound, we have hired 4x4 vehicles to get to where they are. We will beat them one by one like lizards coming from a hole.”
And on UPND president Hakainde Hichilema's assertions that the injury President Banda had caused the Lambas was too deep and would not be healed by his desperate appointment of Gladys Lundwe as lands minister, Mulongoti said Lundwe was a member of parliament from Masaiti and deserved to be appointed minister to replace her brother in apparent reference to former science and technology minister Gabriel Namulambe who was recently fired by President Banda who had left.
“It is him Hichilema who is panicking. He has got Mr Sata to deal with. It is not us. Him he has got Mr Sata to deal with first of all before he can show who he is. So let him deal with Mr Sata first,” Mulongoti said.
“You heard me, emphasise that, Mr Hichilema must first of all go back to Mr. Sata before he can claim that he has any chance to become president.”
On government bowing to media self-regulation, Mulongoti said he was information minister and government had never wanted to regulate the media but the problem was that there were those who resisted self-regulation.
“I think that is what is unfair. Yesterday, I was listening to a debate and somebody was saying that even to be told that 'regulate yourselves is not right'. You see, government cannot allow a situation where there is a total vacuum, where there is nobody responsible,” he said.
Asked if the government's decision to pave way for self regulation was not a tactical retreat because of the pressure against statutory regulation of the media, Mulongoti said government was not pushing the media to create a code of conduct.
He said the media had been in existence for a long time, but wondered how other associations had regulated themselves faster than the media.
“You want quacks to continue masquerading as journalists, why?” Mulongoti asked.
He said the MMD was grateful to its critics, both in Parliament and in the media, and was actively pursuing the advice it got from the two institutions.
However, Mulongoti said some critics were just malicious.
“This year we will be so robust about our achievements because it is evident, anybody can see what we have done, except that our critics because of jealousy have been saying that we have done nothing. But I can tell you we have proudly done so much,” said Mulongoti.
“I can tell you we have performed. We will not sit quietly this year and watch people disadvantage us on account of malice, sometimes jealousy, some hatred. Where we made mistakes, we apologise. We are human beings. We acknowledge that we have faults as well.”
Labels: DANIEL TEMBO, GEORGE MPOMBO, MIKE MULONGOTI, MINISTRY OF WORKS AND SUPPLY, MMD, MMD YOUTH LEAGUE
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Mulongoti is a twit – Mpombo
Written by George Chellah
Friday, July 24, 2009 3:10:38 PM
WORKS and supply minister Mike Mulongoti is a buffoon and a twit, former defence minister George Mpombo has charged.Reacting to Ministry of Works and Supply permanent secretary Lieutenant Colonel Bizwayo Nkunika's notice for him to vacate the government house and surrender his personal-to-holder vehicle, Mpombo said although he had always been ready to vacate the house, there was need for the government to handle matters with civility.
He urged the government to treat him with respect instead of resorting to political persecution. He said it was precisely two weeks since he resigned and yet he was being pursued like he had stayed in the house for months.
Mpombo said he was aware of government officials that had remained in government houses after resigning for a lengthy period of time without being victimised.
"This whole thing is being engineered by some small, little buffoon called Mulongoti. This twit is a living manifestation of evil and actually a personal envoy of the devil to Zambia," Mpombo said.
He wondered why Mulongoti hated him so much.
"This chap is so evil. Do you know that after the monkey business in Livingstone, when I met him at State House on 26 June, 2009 we were having lunch after the Cabinet meeting," Mpombo narrated. "Instead of sympathising with me or trying to find out what happened, he came to me and said, 'we missed an opportunity for a state funeral.' Meaning he was wishing me death. He is a very evil small guy."
Mpombo said officials from Mulongoti's ministry on Wednesday went to his house to intimidate his daughters.
"This morning (Wednesday morning) some officials from works and supply went to my house. They found my daughters and told them that we should have left the house by yesterday (Tuesday) and the vehicle should have been surrendered by yesterday (Tuesday). This is part of victimisation and persecution," Mpombo said. "For me, we should have moved out of the house by our own volition, except that my wife's auntie is admitted at St Johns Hospital and they are from the Copperbelt, so we can't leave them here. And immediately she is discharged tomorrow (yesterday), we leave."
Mpombo complained that he had served in the government as a senior minister and therefore he did not expect to be treated that way.
"It's this kind of hostile environment that forced me out of government. I am consulting my constituency this week to find a way forward. If the party doesn't need me, I have no problem with that. When President Banda accepted my resignation, I gave the vehicle to my security guys that take it because I am a very orderly person. When they drove to Lusaka, the permanent secretary and the Ministry of Defence phoned me and said, 'I have heard that the vehicle is being brought here. This is a personal to holder vehicle so it can't be parked at the ministry. You can have it and negotiate the buying process with works and supply,'" Mpombo said.
"I have used this vehicle for about two years nine months and I qualify according to the conditions of service to buy it. I know of people who bought government vehicles after serving for two years or less. When I resigned, I wrote a letter to the Secretary to the Cabinet Dr Joshua Kanganja. Even before he could get back to me, this is the kind of thing I get."
Mpombo said he would pursue the matter vigorously.
"It amounts to a moral equivalency of war because I do qualify. I will ask my lawyers to handle this matter, I have had enough," he said.
In a letter to Mpombo dated July 21, 2009, which was also copied to Mulongoti and Dr Kanganja, Lt. Col Nkunika advised Mpombo to vacate the VIP house number 5371 Robert Kennedy Close.
"I write to draw your attention to the fact that in accordance with your terms and conditions of service, you are required to vacate a government house within fifteen (15) days from the date of your termination of office as a Cabinet minister or upon your resignation," Lt. Col Nkunika stated.
"In view of the foregoing, you are requested to vacate the government house and surrender your personal to holder vehicle to the undersigned by 21st July 2009 to pave way for a new occupant and user. You are also requested to clear outstanding water and electricity bills if any, on vacating your former official residence house."
But early this year, Mulongoti authorised Dora Siliya's continued stay in a government house beyond the stipulated 15 days after one ceases to be minister. Nkunika confirmed that Siliya, who resigned from her ministerial position, was still occupying a government house beyond the stipulated period.
"Yes, I can confirm to you that she's still in a government house and has asked the Minister of Works and Supply [Mulongoti] to stay a little bit longer until she finds some other accommodation arrangements, and the minister has authorised," Lt Col Nkunika said.
"I don't think this a constitutional matter, it's a regulation. You may recall this happened to [Zambia's envoy to China] Ambassador Lupando Mwape. When he lost his job, he was allowed to stay in the house for three months."
Nkunika said ministers of works and supply could use their discretion to allow former leaders like Cabinet ministers to stay in a government house longer than the stipulated 15 days.
Asked on the timeframe within which former ministers were supposed to hand over their government vehicles upon leaving office, Nkunika said the ministers could still hold on to their GRZ numbers, until they had fully paid for the vehicles if the intention was to buy them.
Asked if Siliya was still driving a GRZ vehicle, Nkunika responded: "You can come and see me at the office. I am going into a meeting."
Labels: BIZWAYO NKUNIKA, GEORGE MPOMBO, MIKE MULONGOTI, MINISTRY OF WORKS AND SUPPLY
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Destruction of evidence
Written by Editor
There was a licence for corruption, for abuse in the Ministry of Health. And it will not be easy to investigate and successfully prosecute wrongdoers in that ministry because things are very deep-rooted and involve too many people. It is
not by accident that well connected people working in that ministry are much better off than other public workers.
The simple explanation for this is that there has been too much unearned income going into individuals’ pockets in that ministry. But again the question is: how has this been possible? It is simply because those in charge of government have been abusing this ministry, using these same people, these same officers.
We shouldn’t forget that it is the Ministry of Health that was used in 2001 to siphon money from government and fund Levy Mwanawasa’s campaign. And it was Ministry of Health staff that were at the centre of diverting government resources to Levy and the MMD’s campaign.
This opened the floodgates. It was free for all and it became very difficult for anyone to have full control of what was going on in that ministry. When convict Kashiwa Bulaya was permanent secretary of that ministry, he was untouchable. He was only answerable to Frederick Chiluba. Nobody could touch him or question what he was doing. Why was this? It was simply because Bulaya had special assignments. This practice did not end with the Chiluba regime.
It continued under the Levy regime. Dr Simon Miti, the permanent secretary of that ministry, had special access to the president and other state agencies. Dr Miti had a lot of power because he moved too many things. Why? It is simply because he was running a ministry that was doing a lot of things for those in power. And invariably, where things are done in this way, accountability is somehow somewhere lost. Things only come to surface much later when the chain breaks. It cannot be denied that last year, this same Ministry of Health was abused in the campaign for Rupiah Banda. Ministry of Health resources were channelled to Rupiah’s campaign. And who was doing all this? It is these same Ministry of Health staff who were moving things to aid Rupiah’s campaign. If they can steal public resources for Levy’s campaign, for Rupiah’s campaign and for all sorts of things for others, why can’t they steal for themselves?
The truth is that that whole ministry is rotten. But it is also true that it is not the only rotten ministry. The whole government system is reeking with corruption in every pore. This is a government whose business is designed for the benefit of individuals’ pockets. Workshops are arranged for the simple purpose of benefitting individuals. This is the government whose president confessed to have benefitted greatly from travel allowances. Clearly showing that foreign trips are designed to put money into people’s pockets, including the president so that he can have money to spend on girlfriends, including buying them houses. We are not inventing this. It all came from the mouth of a former president of this country trying to explain the source of his money.
We have no doubt the Ministry of Works and Supply is equally rotten. If one was to critically scrutinise every contract that has been awarded for this or that work, all the flies in this country would die from the stench of corruption.
So there are so many people in this country whose only discernible source of income is crooked deals with government. And this is what is causing a lot of problems because government is no longer much at the service of its people but it’s now a vehicle for those who are well connected and well positioned to enrich themselves.
What has been unearthed so far at the Ministry of Health is nothing but a tip of the iceberg. And people shouldn’t get too excited about it because it’s really nothing when compared to what is still under the carpet. Those who are investigating these matters need to do so with level heads. The excessive politicisation of their investigations will not yield much. It may even make them lose some of these cases they are taking before court because politics is creeping too much into their work, and shoddy jobs are being done.
The destruction of documents to destroy the audit trail should have been expected because there was a lot of collusion in what was going on in that ministry. It’s not simply a Kapoko issue. The corruption in that ministry goes far beyond the case of Kapoko. Those who have been arrested are far much fewer than those who have stolen but are still lying safe in that ministry. We wish the investigators success in their work. But we don’t think their work will yield much other than a few sensational headlines in the media. We say this because the corruption that rocked that ministry is too deep, too extensive and involves too many people. We also don’t believe the Auditor General’s office has the capacity to undertake the work required unless they suspend everything else for the next two years and simply concentrate on the Ministry of Health. Even then, they will still meet a lot of challenges.
There is a lot of collusion in the stealing of public funds in Zambia. And as we have seen in the cases before our courts of law, sometimes this collusion has involved the highest echelons of power – the presidency. We have also seen that even law enforcement agencies have been part of this collusion. We even have a case where even the Auditor General’s office became part of the scam. And even members of the judiciary were not spared in these schemes. This country lost a chief justice because of corruption, because of a desire by our people to live on unearned income. We could have lost more judicial officers if care had not been taken to put a stop somewhere.
Where there are such high levels of collusion, controls – no matter how sophisticated and elaborate they may be – become useless. Government money will still be stolen in all sorts of ways. Dubious contracts will be awarded to members of the ring. There is very little government business in this country that is clean. Very few government contracts in this country are straightforward. And the art of stealing public funds in this country is being perfected by the day. It is very difficult to detect that something here or there is not right.
The only thing that shows up all the time is the poor quality of work or service that the public gets from these contracts. It will be impossible to develop this country if we don’t change our approach towards government resources and business. You can’t have a country where the richest people are public servants. This can only happen if they are directly stealing public funds or they are selling favours.
As chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Charles Milupi, has correctly observed, when a nation is gripped by corruption, corruption has got its own attendant vices; it’s not just the abuse of public resources and the like. Even the politics are contaminated. Even the way we worship is corrupted. Everything becomes corrupt.
And a corrupt society cannot be expected to have good governance, rule of law or even to hold free and fair elections – elections that are not manipulated or rigged. These are the dangers. This is the organised crime Milupi is talking about. These are the things that should move Zambians to zero tolerance on corruption because if they don’t, the future of this country will be a sad one.
Labels: KASHIWA BULAYA, MINISTRY OF HEALTH, MINISTRY OF WORKS AND SUPPLY, SIMON MITI
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Govt intends to abolish visa fees – Mulongoti
Written by Edwin Mbulo in Kazungula
Monday, June 15, 2009 3:07:27 PM
WORKS and supply minister Mike Mulongoti has disclosed that the government intends to abolish visa fees. And Kazungula Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) officer-in-charge Clement Mulenga says the authority has begun sensitising tourists and people not to go through third parties to avoid being cheated by thieves at the border.
Speaking when he toured Kazungula border area on Saturday, Mulongoti said that the immigration officers needed to be alert.
"At political level there are plans to abolish visas, if that is done the immigration is going to be irrelevant, you need to help raise the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the nation," he said.
He further instructed the Engineering Services Cooperation (ESCO) officers to clean the border area and put up security lights and a welcome signage.
"If you have a clean environment even people conduct themselves well. By November, plans for the Kazungula Bridge would be completed and when the bridge is completed you shall even have more traffic to deal with. As for the police, you need to expand the police post. Let's plan for the bridge as there would be more influx of people after the bridge is completed," he said.
Mulongoti who was accompanied by acting Kazungula council secretary Namukolo Kalufyana and district commissioner Fred Siasuntwe was also shown two uncompleted government houses, which have been occupied by unknown people after the death of the contractor.
And welcoming Mulongoti earlier, Mulenga said that ZRA was understaffed and appealed for more staff.
"We are sensitising people not to go through third parties to reduce thefts. The biggest challenge we are facing as ZRA is the fencing as people who go though the area pretend that they are ZRA or immigration officers when they are not due to lack of a security fence," he said.
Mulenga added that once a perimeter fence was put in place, there would be controlled movement at the border.
"We will remove all the people loitering and pretending to be ZRA and immigration officials when they are not but with the absence of a fence it is difficult. However the other issue is that of the capacity of the pontoon. All the trucks you see here are cleared but due to limitations on the capacity of the pontoon which can only ferry one truck at a time, trade in the region has increased and we attend to well over 40 trucks on a daily basis but the pontoon capacity makes the area look congested as we receive about 120 trucks on a daily basis," said Mulenga.
And Mulongoti on Saturday heard that only 30 per cent of the first phase of the Zimba-Livingstone 30-kilometre road had been done.
Mulongoti who toured the Zimba-Livingstone road said that so far the indications were that China Geo Construction (CGC) was doing a good job on the road.
"Our commitment to the people of Zambia is that we mean what we say and we don't expect the road works to go beyond November. As a government we don't look at UPND as our mandate is for the whole nation. We will not be destructed in the province. The people of the Southern Province should consider what we have done, if they think otherwise it is up to them even. If they don't vote for us we shall meet their requirements, we are not fearing any political pact," he said.
And speaking earlier at Livingstone General Hospital where he had gone to visit acting Siavonga district commissioner Aaron Siamuzulu who collapsed on Friday, Mulongoti said that all was normal at the hospital despite the nurses strike.
The acting district commissioner died yesterday morning at around 05:00 hours.
"All essential services are continuing. All is normal as I have been briefed by the acting director (Dr Robert Fubisha) as there has been no BID (Brought In Dead) case and that the hospital yesterday (Friday) received a surgeon from Lusaka. I would however appeal to the health staff to come back for work like yesterday. They are employed to look after people's lives. We want them. It is not a win-win situation. It's a win for all. We want the public to be attended to," he said.
And Roads Development Agency (RDA) chairman Walusiku Lisulo has instructed the Zimba-Livingstone road engineer to speed up the road works before the onset of the rains so as not to inconvenience the travelling public any further.
Labels: CLEMENT MULENGA, INFRASTRUCTURE, MIKE MULONGOTI, MINISTRY OF WORKS AND SUPPLY, ZRA
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Zambians must kick out MMD, says Sata
Written by George Chellah and Patson Chilemba
Thursday, June 04, 2009 11:43:50 PM
ZAMBIANS must wake up and kick out the MMD now, Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata said on Thursday. And Sata said
the Central Board of Health (CBoH) was abolished to facilitate the diversion of money meant for the health sector to the ruling MMD. During a Hot FM Radio programme, Sata said currently Zambia had no leadership or direction.
"It is the worst sangwapo we have ever come across. Whilst the rest of the world is taking care of the global economic crisis, here we are taking care of the global economic crisis in our pockets. You have a government that has come here to enjoy themselves," Sata said.
"To them it is honeymoon they must enjoy themselves. You remember I released a letter on [MMD deputy national secretary] Jeff Kaande where he wrote to the Ministry of Home Affairs collecting money for people who never supplied anything. That matter has died because it was MMD."
Sata said the current government was only interested in money.
"All they want is to take money, they take money from NCC, they take money from per diem and what we need at the moment...the people of Zambia must kick out MMD now because by the time you get up there will be nothing. We will be worse than one party state," Sata said.
"People of Zambia should stop complaining, kick out MMD. We have had enough of this MMD. The stealing has reduced Zambia to be the poorest and we have reduced ourselves. We were 18 and now we are very high ranking in corruption but I think we as a people must wake up and say enough is enough."
Sata said it was not impossible to remove a sitting government as long as there was truth. On the K27 billion Ministry of Health scam, Sata said CBoH was abolished to facilitate the diversion of money meant for the health sector to MMD.
"I created CBoH as Minister of Health, CBoH survived during the tenure of Levison Mumba as Minister of Health... The reason for dissolving CBoH was for the money to be controlled directly by the permanent secretary so that the money can be going to MMD and now we have seen," Sata said.
"When I was minister of health with CBoH my ministry did not get in touch with so much money as they are doing now. But when they abolished CBoH all the money, which was coming from the donors, for example is it not surprising for a country like Zambia to say we have US$ 53 million to go and buy mobile hospitals?
"Like if that is not enough, Tetamashimba says 'am going to buy hearses'. Last year's elections the Chinese put in lots of money in the MMD pocket, they have to fulfil the undertaking of what they are going to give to the Chinese. That's why Vice-President George Kunda went to Serenje to look for land to give to the Chinese."
He said the whole hearse and mobile hospital deal stinks. Sata insisted that local government minister Benny Tetamashimba must tell the truth on hearses.
"I went to Chirundu and I saw the clearing certificate, on the clearing certificate each manda manda [hearse] was US$ 9000. Tetamashimba is saying no, no, no! It's not me who bought, it was Sylvia Masebo and [late president Levy] Mwanawasa so it's not Banda. But we know he is Benny Tetamaboza," he said.
Sata said there was rampant stealing in all government ministries.
"There is far much bigger corruption in the Ministry of Works and Supply," he said.
He said the MMD was trying to link him to former human resource manager in the Ministry of Health Henry Kapoko to divert attention of the people.
"I blame the so-called opposition because they marketed Rupiah Banda. Today we say thank you for plunging us in this," Sata said.
He said President Banda and the MMD had been caught pants down in their own web of deceit and corruption. He said it was in fact the MMD who engaged in corrupt dealings.
He charged that several MMD cadres and officials were booked at Kapoko's Best Home Lodge and the bills were paid for by several government ministries and the Central Statistical Office (CSO). Sata said MMD would want to shift the blame to PF because they were heavily involved in corruption.
"They have been caught pants down in their corruption," he said.
On Lusaka Province minister Lameck Mangani's statement that MMD had proof that the PF owed Best Home Lodge K11.6 million for beverages and K8.7 million for lodging, Sata said PF paid for their services unlike MMD who used public money.
On Mangani's statement that K8.7 million had been cancelled by Kapoko through his uncle, Robert Kalimi, Sata said MMD were using former PF secretary general Edward Mumbi to peddle lies against the party, saying there was no debt which could be cancelled in less than one year.
"I have never seen a debt, which is written off in less than one year. I am grateful for the contradictions coming from MMD. We have a list where MMD were booked by various ministries and the CSO. It's them and Rupiah Banda who have been caught in their own web of deceit and corruption," said Sata. "The fact is that PF paid for the services, and they [MMD] were paid for by government ministries."
Addressing the media on Wednesday, Mangani, who was MMD elections national coordinator in last year's presidential election, said MMD and President Banda did not, at any time, deal with Kapoko.
Mangani said preliminary investigations by the party revealed that it was instead PF that allegedly had dealings with Kapoko.
Mangani said the MMD had overwhelming evidence, including invoices, indicating the PF had accommodated its cadres and other party officials at the infamous Best Home Lodge where it accrued a bill of K11.6 million for beverages.
Labels: CORRUPTION, MINISTRY OF HEALTH, MINISTRY OF WORKS AND SUPPLY, MMD, SATA
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Govt seeks K50bn for Zimba-Livingstone road
By Bright Mukwasa in Mulobezi
Monday April 07, 2008 [04:00]
WORKS and supply minister Kapembwa Simbao has said the government needs about K50 billion to work on the Zimba-Livingstone road. In an interview after inspecting road works in Southern Province last week, Simbao said the road was becoming a source of concern and required to be attended to immediately.
Simbao said the Zimba - Livingstone road could have been worked on but the government was awaiting money form donors which had not yet been made available.
He said it was a pity that the road had continued to be in a deplorable state.
“We will start doing the road while we await donor money; there’s money from the European Union but it has not been made available due to some complications concerning paper work, so we need to put something aside, like K50 billion, for the road,” Simbao said.
He also said the contractor working on the Mulobezi road had temporarily stopped works because they required extra money for gravel for the road. He also expressed concern at the Sesheke - Livingstone road which had developed cracks.
Simbao reiterated the need to start redesigning most bridges in the country in order to make them stronger to brave natural calamities like floods.
Labels: KAPEMBWA SIMBAO, MINISTRY OF WORKS AND SUPPLY, ROADS
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Simbao warns contractors over advance payments
By Nomusa Michelo
Saturday December 01, 2007 [03:00]
WORKS and supply minister Kapembwa Simbao has warned contractors and consultants that the ministry will no longer give advance payments on contracts beginning next year. During the
National Council for Construction (NCC) Indaba held at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre (MICC) yesterday, Simbao said contractors and consultants should have the necessary financial resources to meet their contract obligations. He also said the only relationship that will exist between contractors and the government was performance.
“The year 2008 is going to be a different year because the only relationship that will be important between the Ministry of Works and Supply and the contractors and consultants will be performance,” he said.
Simbao said contractors and consultants who were not willing to meet expected standards should not even be in the sector. He also said the ministry will very sparingly give advance payment because in many cases, contractors and consultants did not even do the work they were paid for. Simbao said the government was not prepared to lose large amounts of money because of shoddy work and defaulting contractors. Simbao also said infrastructure development was a critical component for the country to develop.
And Lafarge Zambia managing director Tom Ehrhart said the cement shortage in the country had been as a result of increased construction in the mining sector and industry as well as increase in infrastructure development in the region.
He said Lafarge Zambia was doing everything possible to meet the cement demand on the market.
Ehrhart said with the construction of the company’s Tukule project at Chilanga, it was expected the cement shortage would be addressed by the middle of next year. He also said the coming on board of other cement producing companies would help to address the cement shortage.
And NCC executive director Dr Sylvester Mashamba in his presentation on ‘The shape of the Construction Industry in Zambia’ said one of the challenges in the country’s construction industry was the high local debt to road consultants and contractors, which is estimated at K380 billion.
Labels: CEMENT, CONTRACTORS, CORRUPTION, KAPEMBWA SIMBAO, MINISTRY OF WORKS AND SUPPLY
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Pay attention to Milupi's committee
By Editor
Friday August 24, 2007 [04:00]
The Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Luena independent member of parliament Charles Milupi, has been raising a lot of important issues that need to be followed up by the whole nation. In the work they have done so far, Milupi's committee has revealed many abuses and the inefficient, ineffective and disorderly utilisation of public funds. But very few citizens, including the most critical ones, seem to be taking a keen interest in the very valuable work of these honourable members of parliament.
Why? Why are we not interested in the way politicians and other government officials are using our money, our taxes, the money our government borrows and the donations or grants it receives from other peoples on our behalf? There is something seriously wrong somewhere that needs immediate correction. If we don't remedy this, we will be resigning ourselves to continued underdevelopment and poverty.
Where one is using other people's money, accountability should be at the fore. Government has no money of its own. Government uses our money as taxpayers and money which it borrows on our behalf and donations it receives on our behalf from other generous people in the world. This being the case, every ngwee, every cent or penny needs to be accounted for; needs to be used in an efficient, effective and orderly manner and in our best interests as the ultimate owners of that money.
Truly, there's so much stealing, abuse and wastage of public funds. And as Milupi's committee has correctly observed, some of this wastage arises from lack of capacity on the part of those managing the affairs of government. It also arises from a deliberate attempt on the part of government officials to swindle the people of Zambia. In short, corruption has much to do with what is going on. If the cases going on in our courts of law are anything to go by, it is clear that there's a lot of corruption in the way government contracts are being awarded and implemented.
There's clear connivance between government officials and the 'contractors', who, as we are today seeing or hearing in the courts of law, are often one and the same people. It is very clear that the interests of government which are supposed to be the interests of the people are not being properly or adequately represented. And because of this corruption, the cost of running government has become very high. A project that should normally cost government say K1 billion, is usually being completed for not less than say K30 billion.
And this may probably explain why most government projects are not being completed. How can they be completed when the money that is supposed to be used to complete them is simply being stolen by government officials and their bogus constructors, or indeed by the government officials themselves who invariably are the contractors?
Where there's corruption there cannot be accountability. We saw under the Chiluba regime how impossible it is to have accountability in a system that is absolutely corrupt; where almost everyone from top to bottom is corrupt. Let's admit it, painful as it may be, we have a corrupt public service. And this is no lie. And as long as things continue like this very little will be achieved in terms of development. Whatever money we pour into development projects will end up in a bottomless pit of corruption. Honourable Milupi and his colleagues have been very generous in their description of what is going on.
They have avoided being very categorical in their analysis of what is going on. What is going on is nothing but naked corruption. The whole system is reeking with corruption in every pore.
Clearly, corruption remains an anchor keeping our country from progressing. Yes, we have very limited resources. And that in itself should be a good reason for not allowing any bit of our public resources from being stolen, abused or mismanaged in any way. The less resources one has, the more he is required to manage them in the most efficient, effective and orderly manner.
We believe that corruption is the first thing we must tackle if we are to make any progress in bettering the lives of our people by providing them the services needed in an organised society. Nothing will be achieved if whatever goes into government coffers ends up lining the pockets of corrupt officials and their conspirators in the private sector. Without leaders of integrity, however, this will continue for a very long time and will be very difficult to eradicate.
Corruption can only be tamed when government agencies are set up to make corrupt behaviour difficult by opening government to public scrutiny, carrying out bidding for government contacts transparently, paying government officials decently, investigating public officials who seem to be living beyond their earned income, cutting red tape and restructuring government offices to remove opportunities for bribery. We cannot continue to have a system where people can own anything, even what appears to be beyond their means, without being made to account. Today civil servants and other public workers are the richest people in the country; they own most of the large houses and farms in and around Lusaka without any loans anywhere.
We are aware that Frederick Chiluba tried to explain this phenomenon through travel allowances. But that doesn't make sense and it's a lie. The true source of this wealth is unearned income; corruption. Unearned income or one living beyond his means is a prima facie case of corruption. Corruption benefits leaders and government officials personally.
It rewards supporters and greases the political machinery. Many times we have heard people say they are joining the ruling party because they don't want their businesses and themselves to suffer, to miss out on government business and contracts. How? What does this amount to? Corruption!
And anyone who really tries to fight corruption makes a host of inconvenient and perhaps dangerous enemies. It needs a permanent source of political pressure from citizens - not just general disgust, but advocacy for specific reforms or changes.
Corruption always carries its own powerful lobby. Look at how many people - politicians, pastors, members of parliament, chiefs - hired themselves out to defend Chiluba and the corruption of his league. Honest government needs one as well. Lives will change for the better when people can rely on earned income rather than corruption and when competence replaces nepotism as the basis for employment and awarding of government contracts.
Let us not forget that where corruption is present the nation at large suffers. It debilitates the judicial and political systems that should be working for the public good by weakening the rule of law and silencing the voice of the people. As a result, citizens' trust in government officials and in national institutions dwindles. Corruption is not only an endogenous matter, but is also and mostly exogenous.
The necessity to take measures against it is every day increasingly becoming evident and everyone has a role to play in stopping corruption. We shouldn't forget that government is more than the sum of all the interests; it is the paramount interest, the public interest. It must be the efficient, effective and orderly agent of a responsible citizen, not the shelter of the incompetent and the corrupt.
Let's start to pay a lot of attention and develop a lot of interest in the work of honourable Milupi's committee and give it the support and the voice it needs to make the resources of our country work for the people.
Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, CORRUPTION, MINISTRY OF WORKS AND SUPPLY, PAC
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Govt losing billions through Ministry of Works - Milupi
By Fridah Zinyama
Friday August 24, 2007 [04:00]
THE Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has expressed concern over the billions of kwacha that the government is losing through projects that are not completed on time by the Ministry of Works and Supply. The PAC, chaired by Luena member of parliament Charles Milupi, has since asked Secretary to the Treasury Evan Chibiliti - who appeared before it during the week - to find a lasting solution to the problem.
"We have observed that almost 100 per cent of the contracts that are undertaken on behalf of government by the Ministry of Works and Supply are never completed on time and money is always lost," Milupi said.
He said there was urgent need for the ministry in question to improve its contract negotiation capacity, as there appeared to be deficiency in that area.
"We have observed that within contract negotiations, there appears to be capacity lacking or there is a deliberate attempt on the part of officials in the ministry to swindle government," he observed.
Milupi wondered why government officials in most cases requested for money to be released even before a contract payment certificate was ready.
"We see a weakness in contract negotiations and a half-hearted attempt by contractors to act as if they are following international standards of contract negotiations," he said.
Milupi said it appeared most government officials were conniving with contractors. "We are concerned that there is no one who represents the interests of government," Milupi said.
And Chibiliti acknowledged the fact that most projects were under-funded and that there were delays in releasing funds because finances were tied up in most ministries.
"To this end, we are coming up with a department that will help to enhance the monitoring and evaluation of finances when they are released to particular projects," he said.
Chibiliti said most ministries had a tendency to request funds and this always tied up the much-needed funds in other areas.
Of late, there have been several complaints especially from the Ministry of Works and Supply over the lack of funds and that this has led to delays in completion of various projects.
Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, CORRUPTION, MINISTRY OF WORKS AND SUPPLY, PAC
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Chief Mwanachingwala calls for road signs on Mazabuka-Monze highway
By Henry Chibulu in Mazabuka
Wednesday August 22, 2007 [04:00]
Chief Mwanachingwala of Mazabuka has called on the Ministry of Works and Supply to install speed humps and road signs to reduce accidents on the Mazabuka-Monze highway. Chief Mwanachingwala complained in Mazabuka yesterday that the road had now
become a death trap as evidenced by the high number of accidents reported daily.
He observed that foreign and local trucks were overturning at Magoye Bridge because it was narrow.
He said there was need for the Ministry of Works and Supply to put in place measures that would protect motorists before a major disaster occured.
Over the weekend, a truck belonging to Capital Fisheries which was transporting imported fish from Namibia plunged into the Magoye river after the driver lost control of the vehicle.
Two other trucks transporting coal to the Democratic Republic of Congo from Zimbabwe also overturned within a stretch of 200 metres.
Labels: CHIEFS, MINISTRY OF WORKS AND SUPPLY, ROADS
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