AFRICAN LIFE AND STATE HOUSE
By Hon. Bowman Chilosha Lusambo
We take great exception to the awarding of a contract for the Environmental Protection Fund Manager by the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development to African Life Financial Services Zambia Limited. Our strong objection has been informed by the fact that African Life has close business ties to President Hakainde Hichilema. Public records still shows that President Hichilema and his business associates Muna Hantuba and Valentine Chitalu still hold a stake in Aflife Holdings, the parent company of African Life Financial Services.
We have just delivered a letter to State House addressed to President Hakainde Hichilema expressing our deep concern over this level of anomaly and irregularity.
We find it immoral, indecent, inappropriate and highest levels of corporate greed for the Government through the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development to award a public tender to a company closely associated with a sitting Head of State. In other jurisdictions, this is a clear case of insider trading for which prosecution could be warranted.
It remains our considered view that President Hichilema should lift the corporate veil that he was enjoying when he was in the private sector now that he is citizen No. 1. It is disingenuous for President Hichilema to continue shouting the loudest on how he is fighting corruption and yet is still doing business with a government he runs. We are heading into midterm season for his administration but he has frantically refused to make public his declaration of his assets and liabilities. We find it extremely odd that a man who pontificates of running a transparent and clean government could struggle to tell the people he governs how much he is worth, whom he owes, the companies he has interest in and his tax records.
Given the gravity of the African Life contract, we demand the immediate resignation of President Hichilema on grounds that he has failed to separate his office and his businesses. The Zambia of today cannot afford to have a dishonest President using his office for his personal benefit and that of his cronies. In an event that President Hichilema does not resign on moral grounds, we demand that the awarding of the contract be annulled and the tender be re-advertised without the participation of African Life.
Failure to adequately to respond to our demands will leave us with no choice but instruct our lawyers to commence legal action to challenge the awarding of a contract to a firm which is closely associated with the Head of State.
