Corruption is embedded in our society - Chikwanda
By Kabanda Chulu
Thu 18 July 2013, 14:01 CAT
FINANCE minister Alexander Chikwanda says it will not be easy for the government to change things overnight since corruption is embedded in the Zambian society.
And opposition members of parliament have proposed that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) should have representatives from security wings as permanent witnesses who should take up cases of theft of public resources as highlighted by reports of the Auditor General.
Contributing to debates on the report of the PAC based on the 2011 financial year presented by committee chairperson Vincent Mwale, Chikwanda said the government had started addressing the issues raised in the report.
He said the proposals made should be put on paper to ensure effectiveness of PAC which was doing a commendable role as an oversight institution.
"We were not entirely in charge in 2011, but as a responsible government we have accepted what happened and we are making changes such as not allowing resource spending without procedures. We have also strengthened and made the office of the internal audit controller independent to effectively monitor government expenditure and identify wrongdoing before the Auditor General moves in," Chikwanda said.
"But these reforms take time, and corruption is embedded in our society, it will not be easy to change things overnight because we have to change institutions to suit our style and not eulogising countries where there is no democracy and elections are rigged all the time."
Presenting the report, Mwale said it was unacceptable that reports of the Auditor General have continued to reveal high levels of non-compliance by ministries, provinces and spending agencies.
"There have been marginal improvements in the amounts affected, for example, misappropriated funds reduced from K1.096 trillion in 2010 to K1.060 trillion. Unproductive expenditure should no longer be tolerated. Government should continue implementing measures to ensure that audit queries are completely eliminated," said Mwale.
Seconding the motion, Chama North PF of parliament January Zimba said the government should stop the tendency of non-adherence to accounting procedures by civil servants.
Monze UPND member of parliament Jack Mwiimbu said Parliament would continue being a house of "wailing and lamentation" if those stealing public funds were not dealt with.
"Let us learn from Uganda where security officers sit with PAC and any government officer found wanting is arrested but in Zambia we have officers who live beyond their means, they drive Porsche cars, build mansions, yet we have ACC and DEC, which only targets opposition politicians and journalists," he said.
Senga Hill MMD member of parliament Kapembwa Simbao said it was difficult to understand reforms being undertaken by the government when a consultant cited for wasteful spending of K50 billion at Kasaba Bay airport has been given more projects.
"Despite spending K50 billion out of K63 billion, there is nothing at this project apart from piles of gravel and the consultant was also the contractor which was erroneous since this is only allowable in small projects," he said.
Katombora UPND member of parliament Derek Livune said civil servants were stealing public funds because they knew that nothing would be done to them.
"These people are well qualified but why do we get this highest disorder in managing public funds because in the private sector people lose jobs and are sent to jail over one ngwee," he said.
Lupososhi PF member of parliament Chungu Bwalya said the government should address the loopholes that result in financial irregularities than wait until detected by the Auditor General.
And Mazabuka UPND member of parliament Gary Nkombo said failure to impose punitive measures on erring officers would make the PF government to end up like the MMD.
"PF should leave a legacy as people who tried to put things correctly or will become like MMD which is gone and will not come back, so government should be hard on workers who are tarnishing their name," he said.
But Mumbwa MMD member of parliament Brian Chituwo rose on a point of order asking whether Nkombo was in order to be the " judge and jury".
But Deputy Speaker Mkhondo Lungu ruled that Nkombo should have used 'may not' come back.
Labels: ALEXANDER CHIKWANDA, CORRUPTION, JACK MWIIMBU, PAC
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PAC sends PS away for submitting incomplete report
By Moses Kuwema
Fri 09 Mar. 2012, 11:58 CAT
THE Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday sent back acting permanent secretary in the ministry of local government and housing Kawila Lushinga for giving the committee insufficient responses.
In his submission to the PAC, Lushinga kept giving assurances instead of the action that had been taken on officers involved in the various irregularities that were raised by the Auditor General's report.
Lushinga kept saying efforts were being made to have the records for the various issues that were raised in the audit report, among them issues of missing payment vouchers, stores items without receipt and disposal details, unsupported payment vouchers, unapproved payments vouchers and poor record maintenance.
Before Lushinga could finish his submission, MMD Chembe member of parliament Mwansa Mbulakulima chipped in saying he had never seen a report which was as incomplete as the one the acting permanent secretary was presenting.
"Our colleagues are far from being ready to present their report. All they are telling us is that efforts are being made, what are we sitting here for? Mbulakulima asked.
Chairperson of the committee, Chipangali MMD member of parliament Vincent Mwale then added that the committee was interested in convincing answers like what had happened to the officers involved in the various irregularities cited in the audit report.
"These are public resources and we need proper explanations. I cannot allow this submission. We are not getting responses that we are suppose to get. It will make a lot of sense to yourself and us if you went back to re-do this report. As a committee we are required to submit before the House the right responses and report. We need to give you more time, we will not take this submission," Mwale ruled.
Lushinga then requested that he be given at least a month to re-do the report.
But Mwale said it was difficult for his committee to give all that time because their sitting was going up to the end of March and instead gave Lushinga 10 days.
Lushinga then pleaded that the 10 days was not enough saying the report involved over 70 councils countrywide.
In response, Mwale said: "This report does not include all the councils, it's just a few and I don't think they are beyond 15. We will give you 10 days and we will see how you will go with it. Our schedule is tight."
Labels: AUDITOR GENERAL, PAC, PERMANENT SECRETARIES
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FRA's mandate under review
By Kabanda Chulu
Fri 09 Mar. 2012, 11:59 CAT
THE government is in the process of revising operations of the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) so that it reverts to its original mandate of buying strategic food reserves only, says agriculture minister Emmanuel Chenda.
And Parliament unanimously supported and approved the motion moved by Solwezi Central MMD parliamentarian Lucky Mulusa that government urgently develop a broadly shared economic and human development strategy that can translate economic growth into tangible benefits to improve livelihoods.
Parliament also approved President Michael Sata's directive to abolish and establish government ministries and departments.
And justice minister Sebastian Zulu tabled the Anti Corruption Bill that will come up for presentation and reading on March 23, 2012.
Responding to Kalomo member of parliament Request Mutanga's question on what government was doing to address challenges faced in executing the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP), Chenda on Wednesday said the process of revising the programme had been done and was waiting Cabinet approval.
"The FISP has been revised in order to promote and market other cash crops apart from maize and we are also in the process of reviewing the operations of the FRA so that it reverts to its original mandate of purchasing food crops for strategic national reserves only," he said.
And Mulusa, when moving the motion, said Zambia needed to implement economic policies that were designed and owned by Zambians in order to address the current situation where inadequate benefits accrue to local people despite positive economic growth.
He said there was need to put measures that would allow Zambians to reap benefits from its mineral wealth, rich soils and tourism potential.
"Zambia is wealthy but where is the wealth of the nation? Where does it go? The method of funding of public goods is in form of loans and grants and very little from taxes and other forms of government income so where does Zambia's wealth go?" asked Mulusa.
Opposition chief whip Felix Mutati said the motion was not controversial and shouldn't be over-debated while finance minister Alexander Chikwanda said the government was all-inclusive and would support the motion without any reservation.
Earlier, Speaker of the National Assembly Patrick Matibini guided the House on the subject of points of order.
He said points of order were frequently being misused and abused, resulting in detracting the House from considering business before it.
"Points of order ought to primarily relate to interpretation or enforcement of the rules of procedure and conduct of business in the House. So members can invite my attention to any instance when a breach of order of any law of the House has been committed," said Matibini.
"But in very exceptional circumstances, if a matter is grave, urgent and of utmost national importance, I may allow a point of order to be raised and members should ensure that facts are accurate before raising any point of order."
Labels: FRA, PAC, PARLIAMENT, PATRICK MATIBINI
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PAC rebukes foreign affairs ministry for diverting K1.2bn
By Florence Bupe and Bright Mukwasa
Wed 23 Mar. 2011, 04:00 CAT
THE Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has castigated the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for obtaining over K1.2 billion to rehabilitate a structure that did not have title deeds and has since been repossessed by the government of Mozambique.
This was when foreign affairs permanent secretary Ambassador Lucy Mungoma appeared before the committee to respond to queries raised in the 2009 Auditor General’s Report.
According to the report, the foreign affairs ministry remitted to the Zambian mission in Maputo a total of K1,292,158,938 in 2007 and 2008 for the rehabilitation of the building, which was given to Zambia as a political gift in 1975 by the late President of Mozambique, Samora Machel.
Committee member Emmanuel Munaile wondered how the mission in Maputo continued to receive funds for the rehabilitation of the building but instead, channeled the money to the renovation of the mission’s official residence.
Munaile said it was wrong for the mission to ask for funds from government for a particular project and later divert those funds to another project which is not catered for in the budget.
But Ambassador Mungoma defended the misapplication of funds, saying the ministry was hopeful that title deeds would be given to the Zambian government in due course.
“I wish to report that the nine storey building has been repossessed by the host government. The funds meant for this building are being channeled towards renovations of the official residence,” said Ambassador Mungoma.
And the committee directed the ministry to clarify which laws apply for contracts entered into by the Zambian government through its foreign missions and foreign contractors.
Committee chairperson Emmanuel Hachipuka said this was meant to address the confusion that had arisen in some missions where laws were in conflict with the Zambian system.
Hachipuka further warned the ministry not to enter into contracts without clearly specifying the quality of works required in order to avert the wastage of public resources.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs faced a lot of other queries including unretired imprest in its various missions abroad, inadequate supporting documents for various transactions and accounting irregularities.
Labels: CORRUPTION, EMMANUEL MUNAILE, MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, PAC
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Financial irregularities at Judiciary worry PAC
By Florence Bupe
Fri 05 Nov. 2010, 03:59 CAT
THE parliamentary public accounts committee (PAC) has expressed concern at the failure by the Judiciary to adhere to financial regulations.
Speaking when the Judiciary appeared before the committee to respond to queries highlighted in the Auditor General’s report on Wednesday, PAC member Highvie Hamududu said it was worrying that the custodians of the law were failing to observe it.
“It is disappointing that the Judiciary has continued to appear before this committee to respond to the same queries year after year. We are always talking about issues of unretired imprest, failure to prepare financial statements and other such important requirements of the law,” he said.
Hamududu warned that the Judiciary’s inability to observe financial laws would have a negative spiral effect on the governance of other institutions.
Hamududu observed that officials in the Judiciary were mandated to lead by example by adhering to various aspects of the law but said this was not the case obtaining on the ground.
And PAC chairperson Emmanuel Hachipuka expressed surprise at Judiciary chief accountant Godwin Sakwimba’s explanation on the anomaly of 78 missing payment vouchers.
Sakwimba explained that of the 78 vouchers discovered to be missing, one had been found and the rest were in the custody of courts of law and the police.
However, the members wondered how the Judiciary could allow the police to ‘forcefully’ obtain the payment vouchers, which were the property of the Judiciary without signing for them.
“How can you allow the police to come and intimidate you when you’re the custodians of the law? If that’s what they did then they are breaking the law by getting vouchers without allowing you to keep copies for your own protection,” said Hachipuka.
Labels: CORRUPTION, EMMANUEL HACHIPUKA, GODWIN SAKWIMBA, HIGHVIE HAMUDUDU, JUDICIARY, PAC
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Milupi thinks he owns people of Luena – Rupiah
By Mwala Kalaluka in Luena
Fri 30 July 2010, 04:01 CAT
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda on Wednesday said former Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Charles Milupi resigned from his parliamentary seat because he thought he owns the people of Luena.
And the MMD candidate in the Luena by-election, Mwangala Maopu, said the people of Nangula will have dreams of helicopters hovering over them after seeing the two that came with President Banda to the area.
Addressing a campaign rally at Nangula Basic School where he went to drum up support for Maopu, President Banda said Alliance for Development and Democracy (ADD) candidate Milupi’s ambition misled him to cause what he called a very strange election in Luena.
President Banda said in politics people could not be so stupid as to fail to know the true character of a leader even after voting for him.
“Mr Chairman Michael Mabenga please, tell the people that I really do not take them for granted and that is why I have come here today,” President Banda said.
“This election came about in very strange circumstances. This one is the most strange one in the sense that the member of parliament from Luena, Mr Charles Milupi, was elected by you people.”
President Banda said for reasons that the people of Luena perhaps understood but which his government does not understand, Milupi resigned.
“The one you chose did not have the support in the House; he was alone. He was an Independent and you can’t provide for the people on your own,” President Banda said.
“I want to say to you the people of this place that when you are choosing your leader you must know them and not how somebody talks to you or how rich they say they are. These are important but are not necessary for the choice of a leader.”
President Banda then went back to Milupi.
“That is why our friend Mr Charles Milupi has failed to continue,” he said.
President Banda said Zambia needed humble leaders to develop.
“Not the people who come and tell you that ‘me I was in America. I got this degree. I was on the Copperbelt’. It has nothing to do with the people of Luena,” he said.
President Banda whose campaign consistently focused on Milupi said the ADD candidate resigned because he thought he was doing the people of Luena a favour by being their member of parliament.
“He says ‘no I am going to form my own political party’,” President Banda said. “Fine, he is very welcome to do that but what about the mandate that you gave him as your member of parliament. Is that not well enough for the time being? For me I think that his ambition is what has misled him.”
President Banda said Milupi wanted to use the people of Luena as a bargain chip for his own political expediency.
“There can only be one reason why Mr Charles Milupi has resigned,” President Banda said. “It must be in the back of his mind that he owns you people. It is a mistake for any leader to take people for granted. He must come out in the open and say what he really wants. This kind of leadership is bad leadership.”
President Banda said the by-election that Milupi had necessitated was not in the people’s interest.
“The problem with our brother Mr Milupi is that he has forgotten the fact that you elected him,” President Banda said. “You must always remember that it is the people and the people collectively together can’t be stupid and miss your character and maybe they miss it once when they elect you, afterwards they find that you are a wrong person.”
President Banda said the main difference between Maopu and Milupi was that the latter was a loner.
He said a parliamentarian needed to belong to the party that had a majority in Parliament in order to have access to the country’s resources.
“Not yourself, alone speaking good English and boasting about your degrees and boasting about how much money you have. Members of parliament do not listen to that,” President Banda said.
“He Milupi has been member of parliament for Luena for four years. I do not recall receiving a call from him even for once…he could not do it because he was an Independent. He did not belong to the political party that has the majority in Parliament.”
At that point, noise from the advance party helicopter that was taking off detracted President Banda and he later called Maopu to speak to the people.
In his address, Maopu said he was known to the people.
“Today, a President has come to Nangula, even the helicopters. When we go back home our dreams will be about helicopters,” said Maopu.
“If you want to eat with the powers that be you have to be close to them. Today I am part of the Presidential family.”
President Banda said he liked Maopu very much.
“I think the other parties we should not waste our time to talk about them,” President Banda said.
He said the UPND was a provincial party for the people of Southern Province and that the PF was a party for the Bemba-speaking areas.
“The difference with us for instance with UPND is that they are a provincial party, they are a tribal party,” said President Banda.
“Even in Southern Province itself, the people are beginning to rebel against the UPND because they feel that party is isolating them from other parts of the country. Therefore, the UPND must be destined to fail.”
Labels: ADD, CHARLES MILUPI, PAC, RUPIAH BANDA
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Post editorial on corruption in roads sector irks Mulongoti
By George Chellah
Sat 24 July 2010, 04:01 CAT
WORKS and supply minister Mike Mulongoti is irked by the editorial comment carried in the Monday edition of The Post on corruption in the road sector.
Contributing to a debate on the third report of the Public Accounts Committee in parliament on Thursday, Mulongoti complained over the editorial comment and the matters it raised.
“On Monday, there was an opinion written about me in some newspaper where they were saying that because I am at works and supply I wear suits,” Mulongoti said.
“Suits, even messengers wear suits. I was chief spokesperson for the government of Zambia, was I expected to wear rugs?”
Mulongoti said as a minister he also deserved decent wear.
“In the paper they were quoting this report and making statements as if we are thieves. They say we are arrogant. When you are considered to be contemptuous its also arrogance,” said Mulongoti amidst heckles and laughter from Roan PF member of parliament Chishimba Kabwili, who was reminding him that he was also recently cited for contempt in the George Mpombo case.
Mulongoti said the Road Development Agency (RDA) audit generated a lot of interest. He said an audit is not intended to be a war.
“At no time have we said we will not rectify mistakes. The public where unleashed on us I was not there the years that are quoted in the report. But as a responsible minister I have to defend my government,” he said.
Mulongoti said RDA needed support and that he did not know whether the mistakes committed were so grave that they required people to be hanged.
“Those of you who were angry we have taken note of what you said. Do not think we take what you say lightly these are serious matters,” he said.
On donors, Mulongoti said to express disquiet when things were not going on well does not mean disrespect.
He dismissed perceptions that the government was at war with donors.
And UPND Bweengwa member of parliament Highvie Hamududu surprised his colleagues when he took an almost similar line of debate as renegade Namwala member of parliament Major Robbie Chizyuka in defence of the RDA.
Hamududu, who bragged that he was just donated to politics by his family and that he did not want to be part of jokers, stressed the need to protect institutions like RDA.
He also took an indirect attack on Sinazongwe UPND member of parliament Raphael Muyanda, who just debated before him.
This was after Muyanda raised concern over certain points in Maj Chizyuka’s debate.
“…This is not a debate contest,” Hamududu said in apparent reference to Muyanda’s earlier debate, as the MMD parliamentarians laughed and heckled: “Balelwa bekabeka! they are fighting amongst themselves.”
Hamududu said the government has more responsibility than the opposition and urged them to resolve the issues at RDA.
But Kabwili disagreed with Hamududu’s line of thought on RDA.
“What I have seen today if it continues this country is going nowhere. I totally disagree with the previous speaker saying ‘we must protect our institutions’.
Government must not be seen to be defensive. People must believe in calling a spade, a spade. RDA has failed and we must tell them,” he said.
He wondered what the purpose was in defending RDA.
He said the government must be responsive to the queries from donors.
“They gives us money, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the donors querying where e have gone wrong. There is a lot of corruption and the corruption must be fought,” Kambwili said. “This mistake by RDA must not be repeated. There should be no excuse in over committing this country.”
According to the report, the committee observed same anomalies.
“Your committee, after detailed scrutiny of various submissions from witnesses, observes the following, the Road Development Agency Board of directors, which is defined as the Agency, has not been performing all its functions as specified in the National Roads Act No 12 of 2002 specifically on the preparation and awarding of contracts which partly led to some of the issues raised in the Audit report such as over commitment on road projects; section 4(2)(l) of the National Roads Acts provides that the Agency shall prepare and award contracts and certify works for public roads,” it stated.
The report stated that there is a conflict between the Public Finance Act and the Public Procurement Act with respect to multi year contracts.
The Auditor General’s report revealed financial irregularities in the country’s road sector. This consequently resulted in donors withholding funding to the road sector.
Labels: MIKE MULONGOTI, PAC, THE POST
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COMMENT - Minister Mulongoti on lying. See also
The Post's editorial response to the Minister's remarks.
RB's pronouncements on roads are a marketing strategy - Mulongonti
By Ernest Chanda
Thu 24 June 2010, 14:30 CAT
WORKS and Supply minister Mike Mulongoti told the parliamentary public accounts (PAC) that
President Rupiah Banda's political pronouncements on roads were a 'marketing' strategy.Appearing before the committee on Wednesday to respond to querries in the Auditor General's report on the Road Development Agency (RDA), Mulongoti said all leaders from opposition political parties made similar statements.
He said this in response to Nkana Patriotic Front parliamentarian Mwenya Musenge who wanted to know if Mulongoti would admit that political pronouncements from President Banda put pressure on RDA resulting in the Agency over-committing in its expenditure.
"Yes, the President has made so many statements. Of course when the President goes out to meet people and they tell him about the bad road network you don't expect the President to say to the people this can't be done now or in the near future, no, that's suicide! He has to assure them that planners are coming and that he will instruct the minister of Finance to mobilise resources from wherever he can. It's a marketing strategy, you are also doing it in other political parties. Remember that there may be only a few months left before the election so you expect him to say that," Mulongoti said.
And Mulongoti admitted that the relationship between the National Road Fund Agency (NRFA) and RDA is not cordial.
"There has been bad blood between NRFA and RDA; it's a typical situation; I found it and it's sad. I think it's extremely unfortunate that two sister agencies can not relate well. Many times I've been accused of defending RDA. But what am I supposed to do as the minister responsible? They are pulling each other in different sides. When one wants to contract the payers says no I won't pay," he said.
On over-commitments by RDA, Mulongoti maintained his defence and said there were only multi year committments.
But committee chairperson Emmnauel Hachipuka reminded him that all contracts signed in 2008 were signed between January and December of the same year.
This prompted Mulongoti to keep quiet for a while and later request people with ideas to help RDA.
According to the January 2006-September 2009 Auditor General's report on RDA, the Agency over-committed government by K1, 015 trillion through various road contracts.
The Agency also recorded unretired imprest of over K19 billion.
PAC has been sitting for the past two weeks to consider the report and Mulongoti was the last witness to appear before the committee.
The committee will now compile its report and submit to the National Assembly which resumes sitting on Tuesday next week.
Labels: LYING, MIKE MULONGOTI, PAC, ROADS, RUPIAH BANDA
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Ndalamei questions RDA’s failure to scrutinize, approve road contracts
By Ernest Chanda
Thu 24 June 2010, 04:01 CAT
SECRETARY to the treasury Likolo Ndalamei yesterday expressed surprise that the Road Development Agency (RDA) board did not have a hand in scrutinising and approving road contracts when the law empowered them to do so.
And Auditor General Anna Chifungula has called for an investigation to establish
how many contracts were signed during the time late president Levy Mwanawasa fell ill, through the time he died and when the country held the presidential election.
Appearing before the parliamentary public accounts committee (PAC), Ndalamei wondered what RDA board’s role was if they could not participate in awarding of contracts.
Ndalamei was responding to PAC chairperson Emmanuel Hachipuka who wanted to know if it was in order for the RDA board not to participate in the awarding of road contracts when the law empowered them to do so.
"It is strange that the RDA board does not participate in approving contracts. The law provides that they also participate and if they don't do that where is corporate governance? In fact according to the Act everything RDA does should be cleared by the board,” Ndalamei said.
“The board should make the agency accountable in whatever it does and the board should subsequently be made accountable for everything that RDA does. Otherwise what's the essence of their existence as a board if they can't participate in such a serious undertaking?"
On over-commitments, Ndalamei said his office could not be blamed for late or non-release of funds as alleged by RDA management because all the funds were released in 2009 as budgeted.
"I will not comment about other years because there are people who were there. But in 2009 all monies budgeted for on roads were released with supplementaries."
He said in 2008 the budget was K501 billion and K648 billion was released while in 2009 the budget provided for K715 billion and K822 billion was disbursed, with a supplementary of K116 billon.
“And I can also say that for 2010 all the monies will be released with supplementaries. And for this year we have even gone out mobilising additional resources for roads so that there is no excuse on why some of our budgeted roads cannot be worked on. And when I talk about meeting the budget allocation in terms of resources I'm talking about government resources, not donor money," he said.
When asked by Chifungula whether his office makes institutions such as RDA understand the meaning of the mid-term expenditure framework (MTEF) which they used as part of their excuse for over commitment, Ndalamei urged RDA to rely on the national budget provisions rather than MTEF.
"As for MTEF and the issue of multi year contracts, an institution is not supposed to commit based on MTEF figures on the green paper. Those are just indicative numbers for planning purposes. Institutions should follow the budget so that they do not overcommit," Ndalamei said.
And Chifungula called for an investigation into the number of contracts awarded in 2008.
She said a lot of very big contracts were signed when the President was ill and he subsequently died.
“ I remember that earlier in the same year 2008 42 companies were blacklisted by government. And let me take this opportunity to make it clear that my office did not recommend for the blacklisting of these companies, we only recommended for 10 companies. Of course government had their own inquiry system and they brought in more companies,” Chifungula said.
“…The number of contracts signed during that period is just too much. Since you are in control of the treasury maybe you should find someone to investigate financial crimes because to me this seems to be a serious matter of investigation.”
In response, Ndalamei said the government could investigate the matter.
"Normally we the civil servants don't comment about matters of a political nature, that is for you politicians. In any case I will comment in this way, that we can investigate how many contracts were signed that year and find out if the money was available for those contracts," said Ndalamei.
This prompted Hachipuka to say that he too had authority under Parliament to call for such an investigation.
Labels: ANNA CHIFUNGULA, AUDITOR GENERAL, CORRUPTION, EMMANUEL HACHIPUKA, LIKOLO NDALAMEI, MTEF, PAC, RDA, ROADS
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Next govt must review Zamtel deal – Milupi
By Chibaula Silwamba
Mon 21 June 2010, 04:01 CAT
THE next government in 2011 must review the Zamtel privatisation transaction, former Public Accounts Committee chairperson Charles Milupi has demanded.
Commenting on the shoddy Zamtel transaction where the government has sold 75 per cent shares to Libyan government -wned Lap Green Network for US $257 million, Milupi said the amount that Zamtel was sold for was too little considering that Lap Green Network would also get the Zamtel and Zesco fibre optic network that was constructed at a high cost.
“US $257 million price is not a fair price. Zambians must demand that Zamtel privatisation process must be reviewed. If this MMD government is unwilling to do it, then the next government that will come in 2011, because this is certain, must review this transaction,” Milupi said.
“It will be a lesson for government and prospective investors to ensure that they don’t get involved in shoddy deals.”
Milupi questioned the huge payment given to RP Capital Partners for evaluating Zamtel other than the initial US $2 million that was given to them at the start of the privatisation process.
“Why is RP Capital being paid US $12.8 million? If you look at the privatisation that we have had, whether it’s the mines, all these other companies that we have privatised, we have not paid this kind of money to the evaluator. If you compare with the previous privatisation, why is this figure so high?” Milupi asked.
“We also want to know when they say Zambia is going to make further investment in Zamtel. Further investments in a company that is 75 per cent owned by outside investment! If you look at the mining companies where the government owns about 20 per cent, they government are not making any further investments. Why are they going to make further investments in Zamtel?”
On June 5, 2010, finance minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane announced that the government would sell Zamtel’s 75 per cent shares to Lap Green Network for US$257 million. Dr Musokotwane said the Zambian government would only remain with 25 per cent shares in Zamtel and only two of the seven board members.
However, the transaction has attracted widespread opposition and condemnation with few civil society organisations backing the transaction.
Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, CORRUPTION, PAC, PRIVATISATION, ZAMTEL
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Don’t to be complacent when payment vouchers go missing – Hachipuka
By Namatama Mundia
Fri 16 Apr. 2010, 03:30 CAT
PARLIAMENTARY public accounts committee (PAC) chairperson Emmanuel Hachipuka has advised controlling officers not to be complacent when payment vouchers go missing in the government ministries.
Hachipuka, who is UPND Mbabala member of parliament, expressed concern when local government and housing permanent secretary Timothy Hakuyu submitted to PAC that 45 vouchers totaling about K1.3 billion had been found out of a total of 68 payment vouchers amounting to K1.7 billion which were missing at the ministry.
Hakuyu was giving a report on the 2008 audit queries on unvouched expenditure and others. Hachipuka said misplacement of vouchers was not a good thought.
“Reorganise yourselves to see that such irregularities don’t recur,” he said.
However, Hakuyu told the committee that the missing payment vouchers were as a result of misfiling, which the ministry had now reorganised so that in future payment vouchers do not go missing at any time.
“The ministry wishes to report further that they maintain a register for accountable documents and assign a filing clerk to be responsible for filing. The tracing of the remaining payment vouchers is ongoing and the committee will be informed on the progress on this matter,” Hakuyu said.
A member of the committee representing the Auditor General’s office said it was suspicious when payment vouchers went missing.
And Hachipuka wondered why Lundazi market had not yet been rehabilitated despite the council receiving K80 million from the local government ministry in 2008 as of September 2009.
He noted that such delay in keeping money without using it for intended purposes was what led to misapplication of funds.
On the rehabilitations of markets in Kasenengwa and Chipangali in Chipata, Hakuyu said K74 million had so far been spent as at April 2009 from a total of K90 million.
Hakuyu also told the committee that his ministry had written to Chama District Council asking them to provide expenditure details for the K12 million cash withdrawal, which was made during February 2008 to May 2009.
Labels: CORRUPTION, EMMANUEL HACHIPUKA, PAC, TIMOTHY HAKUYU
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Govt’s purchase of hearses was unusual – PAC
By Namatama Mundia
Wed 14 Apr. 2010, 04:10 CAT
The hearses were supposed to be purchased at US $9,000 per vehicle according to the manufacturer's invoice but the government ended up paying US $29,000
THE parliamentary public accounts committee (PAC)has observed that the purchase of 100 hearses by the government was unusual.
The hearses were supposed to be purchased at US $9,000 per vehicle according to the manufacturer's invoice but the government ended up paying US $29,000 for each hearse.
PAC chairperson Emmanuel Hachipuka made the observations after local government and housing permanent secretary Timothy Hakuyu and his delegation failed to give the committee satisfactory responses to the audit queries on the purchase of 100 hearses on Monday.
Hachipuka, who is Mbabala UPND member of parliament, said the purchase of the 100 hearses at a cost of K14 billion was not a usual purchase.
He said whoever pushed for the purchase of the 100 hearses was very clear because there was no way the government could spend huge sums of money on inferior vehicles.
Hachipuka wondered what the ministry's interest was in purchasing the vehicles, which were not even tested.
“If the bid was a normal one, why did the government ask for tax exemption? Why did the ministry take responsibility for tax exemptions?” asked Hachipuka as he read a letter written to Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) to request for tax exemption in part.
He also questioned the criteria which were used to purchase the 100 hearses.
“I can't understand why 100 hearses,” Hachipuka remarked.
Committee member Charles Milupi, who is Luena Independent member of parliament, said there was abuse of funds in the procurement of the 100 hearses.
“These hearses are not candles, the response of the ministry is essentially trying to shift blame to Zambia National Tender Board now Zambia Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA) who evaluated the bids,” Milupi said.
He noted that it appeared ZPPA was under pressure from the local government ministry to award a contract to Top Motors who supplied the hearses after engaging a Chinese supplier.
Milupi added that ZPPA raised a lot of issues on the procurement of the hearses, which the local government ministry ignored and he suspected that there was connivance in the purchasing process.
But Hakuyu, who had a tough time as he tried to explain to the committee, said there was no connivance in the whole process.
“I can't say there was connivance, I see no connivance, procedure was followed, tenders were floated and the cheapest bidder Top Motors was awarded the contract,” Hakuyu said.
However, Hachipuka said the committee would deliberate on the matter and make recommendations to Parliament.
“There are certain specific issues surrounding the procurement of hearses and the 150 vehicles for chiefs and we will make recommendations to the House,” said Hachipuka.
Labels: CORRUPTION, EMMANUEL HACHIPUKA, PAC
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PAC summons Secretary to the Cabinet over shortage of manpower in govt
By Florence Bupe
Tue 13 Apr. 2010, 03:50 CAT
THE parliamentary public accounts committee (PAC) has requested the Secretary to the Cabinet to appear before it to account for the shortage of manpower in the civil service.
Responding to concerns raised by Northern Province permanent secretary Mwalimu Simfukwe on the inadequate staffing levels in the provincial office, PAC acting chairperson Highvie Hamududu said the Secretary to the Cabinet had been asked to appear before the committee to address concerns relating to understaffing in the civil service.
“We have noted that almost every government institution that appears before this committee has challenges with staffing levels. In order to try and find a solution to this problem which is clearly affecting operations of these institutions, we have summoned the Secretary to the Cabinet to come and explain to us what the problem is so that we can find solutions,” he said.
Hamududu said adequate staffing levels, combined with qualified manpower, were critical in the effective performance of the civil service.
He observed that understaffing in the civil service had resulted in negative spiral effects such as poor accountability and low performance in most institutions.
Earlier, Simfukwe complained that the provincial office was understaffed, especially in the accounts and procurement departments.
Simfukwe called on the government to address the staffing challenges to ensure improved operations.
Labels: HIGHVIE HAMUDUDU, MWALIMU SIMFUKWE, PAC
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COMMENT - Why on earth do the mining companies get the right to sit down with the government and discuss how much taxes they are going to pay? Who else gets that right? Do marketeers get the right to sit down and discussion how much taxes would be acceptable to them? This stinks of corruption.
Mining firms still owe govt K1 trillion in windfall tax
By Mwala Kalaluka
Sun 11 Apr. 2010, 04:00 CAT
MINISTRY of finance chief budget analyst Felix Nkulukusa on Friday told the public accounts committee that all the mining companies that were assessed for the windfall tax payment still owed the government about K1 trillion in outstanding taxes.
“There are some mining companies that have made part payments,” Nkulukusa said. “The other issue that will come out in the amount owed is the issue of interest.” He said that the law allowed for the waiver of payment of interests and penalties on the money owed.
Submitting before the committee, Secretary to the Treasury Likolo Ndalamei said the issue of the mining taxes was a very difficult question for a civil servant to respond to.
“I will start with the issue of mining taxes,” Ndalamei said.
“It is true that we collected very little compared to what was estimated in the budget. The problem with mining taxes...is that we had the DAs (development agreements) then.”
Ndalamei said some mining companies had threatened legal action on the matter and that they were wondering why the government had unilaterally changed the tax regime.
He explained that this was the reason the government had engaged the mining companies so that the standoff over the changes in the mining regime are addressed amicably.
“The discussions are positive. That issue will be resolved,” said Ndalamei.
Labels: FELIX NKULUKUSA, LIKOLO NDALAMEI, MINING, PAC, WINDFALL TAX
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Western Province accounts officials resisting new system – PS
By Moses Kuwema
Fri 09 Apr. 2010, 04:00 CAT
WESTERN Province permanent secretary Ikanuke Noyoo yesterday complained that the
officials in the accounts department at the provincial office are resisting the new system he wants to introduce because they feel the money is theirs.
[They should be fired. - MrK]
Appearing before the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chaired by Bweengwa member of parliament Highvie Hamududu, Noyoo said the system he had tried to put in place had been rejected.
“The other biggest impediment is that even when you present issues of financial irregularities to the police, no action is taken and if I push too hard I am seen to be personal. But I can assure you that I am trying hard to do a professional job,” Noyoo said.
“We need time to sit down with the officers to look at the Auditor General’s report so that we do something better next time we appear before this committee, we need to also beef up our staff and get the right responses from the police.”
Noyoo revealed that out of K300 million, only K185 million was retired by the officers.
Hamududu said it was evident that Noyoo was not getting enough support from officers regarding financial matters.
He said there was need for Noyoo to personally get involved in the irregularities at his office.
“We are not going to send you back but we shall soon be making recommendations on how Western Province can be dealt with, with regards to financial irregularities…you need to be given the capacity to deal with the past so that the province can be cleaner,” he said.
Hamududu expressed concern at the unsupported payments that were revealed in the Auditor General’s report.
“There is no way documents can be missing after spending some money…this is pure theft someone is cooking up receipts. What has been done to these officers because abuse of resources cannot be tolerated?” wondered Hamududu.
Labels: ACCOUNTING, CORRUPTION, HIGHVIE HAMUDUDU, IKANUKE NOYOO, PAC, WESTERN PROVINCE
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PAC castigates office of Accountant General
By Florence Bupe
Sat 03 Apr. 2010, 04:00 CAT
THE Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday castigated the office of the Accountant General for seconding Ministry of Education accountants to the Copperbelt provincial office.
PAC chairperson Emmanuel Hachipuka expressed disappointment that the Accountant General’s office decided to send education ministry accountants to the Copperbelt office, which he said needed special attention.
Hachipuka argued that the accounts department in the Ministry of Education leaves much to be desired and it was unacceptable to have accountants who had performed below expectations to be placed at an office that had a serious problematic background.
About three years ago, almost the entire accounts staff at the Copperbelt provincial office was dismissed for misappropriation of funds and were currently facing charges in court.
“Why should the office of the Accountant General send accountants from the Ministry of Education to the Copperbelt provincial office when they education ministry accountants also have a poor performance record,” Hachipuka wondered.
“The Ministry of Education is not a ministry where you can source accountants from, even if they have a surplus of staff.”
Hachipuka said it was unfortunate that the office of the Accountant General had used numbers and not performance as a criterion for recommendation of accounts staff to the Copperbelt Province.
“You cannot afford not to use performance as a yardstick for appointment of staff. Sending the wrong people to the Copperbelt office will result in a similar recurrence where money will just go to benefiting officers instead of alleviating poverty through various projects,” he said.
Hachipuka said the committee would summon the Secretary to the Treasury to try and resolve the problems that were still rampant in the Copperbelt office.
He also suggested that the Ministry of Finance should come up with measures to prosecute culprits of resource abuse as opposed to leaving the task to controlling officers alone.
And Copperbelt Province permanent secretary Villie Lombanya appealed for additional staff in the accounts department as a way of enhancing performance.
Lombanya disclosed that currently the office operated with 13 accounts staff, against a requirement number of 30.
The office is also faced with challenges in the procurement and planning departments.
“The current situation is not helping me put things back in order. I only have 13 staff members in the accounts department instead of the required 30 and this is making operations very difficult,” said Lombanya.
Labels: ACCOUNTANT GENERAL, EMMANUEL HACHIPUKA, PAC
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MoH intensifies financial management systems
By Florence Bupe
Fri 26 Mar. 2010, 10:10 CAT
HEALTH permanent secretary Dr Velepi Mtonga has assured that her ministry has intensified financial management systems to prevent scams in future.
In her submission to the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday, Dr Mtonga said the ministry had drawn its lessons from the financial scams that rocked the institution and said necessary measures were being put in place to avoid similar recurrences.
“We realise that we need to take financial regulations seriously and execute them accordingly. We have already started taking disciplinary measures against officers who have failed to meet the financial stipulations and we are hopeful that there will be a change in people’s attitude towards public funds,” she said.
Dr Mtonga disclosed that a committee had been established to strengthen financial systems in the ministry as a way of enhancing fiscal and procurement accountability.
She further told the committee that the ministry would recover about K350 million unretired imprest from the terminal benefits of an officer who was implicated in the Ministry of Health scam, but had since committed suicide.
“The Auditor General’s report captured a total of K137 million as unretired imprest from the Eastern Province office (Chipata) but this figure is actually higher, it is supposed to be K350 million,” Dr Mtonga explained.
“We have since instituted measures to recover this amount from the late officer’s terminal benefits through deductions.”
And Dr Mtonga revealed that some health district offices in Eastern Province were forced to get supplies on credit in 2008 due to erratic funding following the death of president Levy Mwanawasa.
She said this had partly led to the increase in the number of queries raised in the Auditor General’s report, but assured that payments had since been made and vouchers were ready for the Auditor General’s verification.
Dr Mtonga said her ministry was aiming at achieving a zero- audit query in the next report.
“We will endeavour to minimise on unretired imprest and missing vouchers as we strive to achieve a zero- audit status in the Auditor General’s Report,” said Dr Mtonga.
Labels: MINISTRY OF HEALTH, PAC, VELEPI MTONGA
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‘Rupiah is ‘Mr Holidays’ forever’
By Moses Kuwema and Florence Bupe
Fri 26 Mar. 2010, 04:01 CAT
UPND president Hakainde Hichilema yesterday revealed that President Rupiah Banda intends to leave for Brazil for another 10 days.
And parliamentary Public Accounts Committee chairperson Emmanuel Hachipuka has advised controlling officers at State House to ensure that President Rupiah Banda and his entire delegation retire imprest for the state visit to Namibia, which was unexpectedly cut short from four to two days.
Speaking when he featured on the Hot Seat programme, on Hot Fm yesterday, Hichilema said President Banda was a ‘Mr Holidays’ forever because he was always on holiday.
“President Banda lacks leadership to solve the problems that this country is going through because if he did he would not have gone to China for 10 days without first solving the flood situation in the country…I’m now told that he is on his way to Brazil for 10 days. So even this trip… people should start condemning us when we raise issues? Why should I praise Rupiah? For what when people are dying in flooded areas?” he asked.
Hichilema said the MMD government was not a decent one because it had failed to provide a remedy for the floods that had hit the country.
“The situation is terrible. It’s different from flying to Namibia and not being aware of the problems in your country, death has become cheap under the MMD government,” he said.
Hichilema said during his tour of Kuku compound in Lusaka on Wednesday, he found a woman’s body in the flooded waters.
“The MMD has no capability to solve the problems of floods because of the way they organise themselves, we disagree with the way they are running the country,” he said.
Hichilema said the government should have declared the flood situation in the country a national disaster as a way of attracting support from the donors.
He challenged Zambians to do the right thing in next year’s elections because the onus was on them.
Hichilema appealed for unity of purpose from the people of Zambia by coming together to fight the injustice.
He said President Banda’s government did not want to allow people to demonstrate freely.
“If Zambians are not allowed to demonstrate freely what do you want them to do? Because if you close a peaceful avenue you are opening a violent avenue which we don’t want,” said Hichilema.
And Hachipuka said it was the responsibility of controlling officers in any government wing to see to it that unutilised imprest is retired within 48 hours of one’s return.
“Any government officer who acquires imprest has the duty to retire it within 48 hours. Clearly, if you obtain imprest for seven days and stay out only for four days, you’re obliged to hand back the cash for the remaining days and account for the days you were out,” he said.
Hachipuka said the money that any government officer obtains and decides not to use belongs to the treasury, and should, therefore, be handed back to the same.
He said failure by any officer to hand back unutilised cash amounted to theft and should be treated as such under the law.
“Not to return money that has not been used to the treasury amounts to theft. The danger with not retiring imprest by filling in the necessary forms is that you create loopholes even for the person who issued the money to pocket cash belonging to the treasury,” Hachipuka said.
“You can’t afford to hold on to government money, it is illegal,” said Hachipuka.
Labels: EMMANUEL HACHIPUKA, EXPENDITURE SYSTEMS, HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, PAC, RUPIAH BANDA
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PAC questions govt over Nyiombo Investments, Omnia’s contracts
By Florence Bupe
Thu 25 Mar. 2010, 04:00 CAT
THE parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has questioned the government over the continued awarding of contracts to Nyiombo Investments and Omnia for the annual supply of fertiliser under the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP).
Raising the concerns when the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries appeared before the PAC on Tuesday, committee chairperson Emmanuel Hachipuka said it was worrying that only two companies should continue supplying fertiliser to the government despite the unfavourable conditions attached.
The 2008 Auditor General's report disclosed that the agriculture ministry had accrued huge debt arising from interest on payment as well as exchange rate losses.
“This practice the persistent awarding of contracts to Nyiombo Investments and Omnia is holding Zambians to ransom and our agriculture efforts are falling to the ground due to the high cost of inputs,” he said.
Hachipuka said there was need to address rules that favour foreign suppliers at the expense of the Zambian government and communities.
“We need to address the inbuilt rules that favour suppliers. You need to find ways of recovering costs as opposed to passing on the high costs to the Zambian farmers,” he said.
Hachipuka urged the government to seriously look at reviving the local fertiliser manufacturing industry to avoid losing huge sums of money through exchange variances.
In response, agriculture permanent secretary Dr Abednigo Banda claimed that the companies had continued getting the contracts for the supply of fertiliser because they met all the requirements of the tenders.
He referred further queries to the Zambia Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA).
Dr Banda explained that due to the quantities and amounts involved in the procurement of fertiliser, the awarding of contracts went beyond the ministry and were handled by ZPPA.
“The explanation to the continued awarding of fertiliser supply contracts to the two companies over the last seven years is that they have always met the terms required by government, others fail,” Dr Banda said. “We conduct an open tender procedure; we have no particular bias towards these companies.”
Hachipuka suggested that there would be need for ZPPA to appear before the committee to explain the controversial supply issue.
“We may need to call ZPPA before the committee. The issue is that nobody in ZPPA is protecting government and that's a source of concern,” Hachipuka said. “We need to create giants locally that will be able to compete with the two companies for the purpose of lowering the cost of fertiliser.”
Labels: CORRUPTION, FISP, NYIOMBO INVESTMENT LTD, PAC
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PAC cautions permanent secretaries over irregularities in AG’s report
By Ernest Chanda
Thu 18 Mar. 2010, 03:50 CAT
PARLIAMENTARY public accounts committee chairperson Emmanuel Hachipuka has cautioned permanent secretaries against taking pride in being cited for various financial irregularities by the Auditor General’s office.
Hachipuka made the remarks when communications and transport ministry permanent secretary Dominic Sichinga appeared before the committee to explain the steps taken concerning various irregularities highlighted in the annual Auditor General’s reports.
Hachipuka urged all controlling officers to consider the image of the country in whatever transactions were made under their control.
He said whatever revelations were made by the Auditor General’s office also reflected the image of the country.
“Let me just say a few remarks as we conclude this session. No controlling officer should be happy to be cited for various irregularities.
What’s in here Auditor General’s report shows what we are as a country. And whatever is reflected in this document has a bearing on the image of this country.
Right now I’m nicely dressed, now imagine if I came here dressed in my underpants, what would you think of me? Everyone here would say there’s something wrong with me,” Hachipuka said.
“Equally, the irregularities highlighted in this book reflect the image of this country. Please take note of the procedures and programmes in the financial guidelines. For example why would a voucher be allowed to be missing just like that?”
Hachipuka urged controlling officers to take the relationship between them and the Auditor General’s office seriously and improve on their weaknesses.
“A very high percentage of funding is coming from donors. And if donors realise that we don’t care about the way we spend money, no matter how many trips Rupiah Banda makes going into China no money will come to support us.
So, take serious the engagement between the Auditor General and yourself; that it has serious repercussions on the governance of the country, on the level of support, on the signals it gives in as far as the country is concerned,” he said.
“It should not be a joyous moment for anybody to be cited. So, if you are not clear about the procedures of the Auditor General I can ask her to issue a small booklet on the procedures of the kinds of audits she can undertake so that you controlling officers take serious note of the procedures and the programmes in there.”
And submitting earlier, Sichinga revealed that his office had recovered a good amount of unretired imprest and missing payment vouchers.
“Some of the missing payment vouchers and unsupported vouchers amounting to K248,439, 418 have been found, leaving the balance of K147,474,708. Efforts are being made to trace the remaining missing payment vouchers,” submitted Sichinga.
“From the total amount of K353, 588, 300 imprest outstanding as per status report, K77, 007, 500 has since been retired leaving a balance of K276, 580, 800. Efforts are being made to ensure that the remaining unretired imprest is retired, failure to which recoveries will be made from the officers’ salaries as reminders asking the officers to retire the imprest have already been sent.”
Labels: ATTORNEY GENERAL, EMMANUEL HACHIPUKA, PAC, PERMANENT SECRETARIES
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