DID MUNDUBILE DECLARE INTEREST IN ROAD DEALS?
The Editor Zambia
The summon and recording of a warn and caution on Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) and Tonse Alliance president Brian Mundubile by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over the lucrative road contracts is long overdue.
The road contracts, which were awarded between 2014 and 2020, have attracted public interest with some questioning whether the ACC case brought against Mundubile is genuine or it’s the UPND government targeting a political opponent.
The law, through the Anti-Corruption Act No. 3 of 2012 (Section 28) mandates a written disclosure or declaration of any personal interest by public officers before a public body.
Failure to declare interest or participating in public business contracts or making decisions where a conflict exists is deemed a criminal offence, often leading to conviction, jail sentences, and forfeiture of acquired assets.
Brian Mundubile was a public officer serving as Minister in the Patriotic Front (PF) government when participated in the high value contracts amounting to K1.5 billion.
Sixth Republican President Edgar Chagwa Lungu appointed Mundubile as the provincial minister for Northern Province in 2016, a position he served up to July 2019, before he was transferred to the position of Government Chief Whip.
The companies in which Mundubile is alleged to have interest were awarded lucrative contracts while he served as senior government official.
The ACC action on Mundubile is within the confines of the law. The action also provides Mundubile an opportunity to clear his name on alleged brought against him.
Once proven innocent, Mundubile will ride with head high as he seeks to contest for the Republican presidency in the August 13, 2026 general elections.
Political analysts have commended the ACC for ensuring that those who are seeking to serve in elective positions come with clean hands.
The law’s demand for people seeking political office to declare interest on public business contracts is a matter of principle and ethics. This enhances good governance and curbs conflict of interest.
The law on conflict of interest in Zambia are governed by the ACC Act No. 3 of 2012, which mandates that public officers must disclose any personal business interest before a public body.
FDD and Tonse Alliance spokesperson George Chisanga has labelled the ACC’s instigations into Mundubile’s high-value road contracts as witch-hunt. However, Chisanga’s outbursts collapses when he fails to tell the public whether Mundubile declared interest in the companies that were awarded lucrative road contracts.
As a lawyer of many years at the bar, Chisanga should be telling the public if a serving cabinet minister is permitted to engage in public business contracts without conflicting the law.
There are also questions as to whether the road projects awarded to companies in which Mundubile has business interests were completed, delivered to the government, and paid for in full.
“People should not only concentrate on the project delivery but also ethical behaviour by the so-called leaders.”
The allegations that companies linked to Mundubile were paid in full for road contracts that were not fully executed are not new. The story is something that has been heard from the time the PF lost political power in 2021.
Senior members of the former ruling party have come out in public and claimed of being in possession of evidence, proving that Mundubile received money for undelivered road contractual works.
One such senior PF member is former cabinet minister Chishimba Kambwili, who publicly warned of unleashing credible evidence against Mundubile.
Why don’t some people want to say things the exact way they are? Who told the nation Mundubile was awarded contracts by the previous government that he did not deliver but just got away with the money?
Was it not Chishimba Kambwili, who actually promised that he had evidence enough to prove to the nation beyond doubts about his claim.
Analysts expressed disappointment at Chisanga, a lawyer, who has claimed political witch-hunt in the matter.
Anyways, some political commentators have told Chisanga that, “indeed, some witch-hunt to recover public resources is good witch-hunt.”
A few cases have been cited as examples where individuals have been convicted and jailed for failing to declare interest.
Dr. Brian Chituwo, the former minister of Heath, received a one year suspended sentence in 2019 for failing to declare interest in a Constituency Development Fund project (CDF) project.
Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba, alias GBM, the former minister of Defence, was sentenced in October 2024 to five years imprisonment with hard labour for multiple counts of conflict of interest, money laundering, and possession illegal property.
Therefore, Chisanga and his Tonse Alliance cronies should understand that conflict of interest is what earned GBM his time in prison
The Tonse Alliance should not mislead people. The probe against Mundubile specifically focuses on the manner in which various contracts for road construction in the Northern, Eastern, Western, and Central Provinces were awarded to companies in which Mundubile allegedly holds interests.
According to the ACC, these contracts were awarded between 2014 and 2020 and carry an estimated total contract value of over K1.5 billion.
Kawalala