GOVT. CAN’T CANCEL 156 AMBULANCE CONTRACT BECAUSE PEOPLE GOT KICKBACKS – MUNDUBILE
…..Says a serious government would have fired Phiri before he even pledged to resign for a flawed procurement.
Lusaka – Monday June 2, 2025 (News Diggers)
MPOROKOSO PF MP Brian Mundubile has questioned the terms of the contract between government and suppliers involved in the procurement of 156 ambulances, wondering why government cannot simply cancel the deal if there are delivery failures.
Mundubile argues that most contracts include clauses that penalise suppliers for non-performance, and says it is puzzling that government appears unable or unwilling to enforce such terms.
His remarks followed a statement by Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development Permanent Secretary Nicholas Phiri, who on Thursday walked back his earlier pledge to resign if the 156 CDF-funded ambulances were not delivered by May 2025. Phiri said the ambulances had already been procured but were delayed by the shipping company.
Speaking in an interview on Friday, Mundubile insisted that the real issue was what the contract said about failure to deliver.
“The procurement of ambulances was through a contract that had terms including the time with which those ambulances should be delivered. That contract must have had a performance bond executed by the suppliers of those ambulances, which bond was that if he fails to perform, it will be cashed so that he’s inconvenienced, the same way the people of Mporokoso, Mpika, Kazungula, are inconvenienced. A contract within itself has a way of punishing that supplier.
So what has happened is that they’ve shifted the people’s attention away from the terms of the contract, they are now talking about the PS giving himself new deadlines, ‘I will resign, I won’t resign,’ what is the contract saying? Is it still within time? If he has failed to deliver, why have they failed to execute the terms of the contract? For instance canceling the contract, revoking its performance bond so that he loses money for the inconvenience that he has caused,” Mundubile said.
“And yet we’ve allowed it to descend to a level of a circus of the PS saying ‘I’m not resigning, I will resign’. If those ambulances were supposed to be delivered within six months, what did the contract say about the contractor failing to supply? What sanctions were in that contract to ensure that he performed? So my take is that even before we go to the circus of the PS, we should have looked strictly at the terms of the contract and implemented them. What would have happened then, by the time he was saying I will resign, I’m sure by that time he had already failed the terms of the contract, by that time the contract should have been canceled, by that time the performance bond should have been revoked. And immediately an emergency procurement should have been done through Toyota Zambia. Today the people of Zambia would have been enjoying the service of these ambulances and cutting down these sorts of inconvenience”.
Mundubile wondered whether the supplier was allowed to supply whenever they wanted.
“Are we saying that the terms of that contract were at large? The supplier could have supplied at his pleasure? Is that what we are saying? Did the contract allow him to supply in whatever time frame he felt it would be done because by the time the PS was promising May, it was already out of time, this is close to three years since this happened. So how many people have died due to non-supply of these ambulances?
How many people have been inconvenienced? That’s the price that we should be talking about. These are not ordinary luxury vehicles or delivery vehicles, these are ambulances meant to save lives and today they are not supplied,” he said.
He said the behaviour of government only showed that people already got kickbacks from the contract and all they needed to do was defend the supplier.
“So when you see people behave in that manner, it goes to confirm one thing, there were personal interests, people already got their kickbacks and all they have to do now is to speak and defend a supplier because they are partners. So the corruption that this reveals is very deep, that’s what may be going on in many other instances where people are given contracts, people are given advance payments and they take forever and nobody cares. My focus is on the lack of transparency, accountability and serious weaknesses in the governance system that we are experiencing today,” Mundubile said.
“The issue of ambulances and the statement of the permanent secretary points to very serious governance issues within the rank and file of the UPND. You can see how playful your leaders are, it makes me feel very sad that governance can sink so low. Before we even talk about giving himself an ultimatum to resign, and later changing that he won’t resign, we must look at this issue as a serious issue.
Firstly we are talking about ambulances, equipment that is procured to save people’s lives. You must understand that according to the CDF act, its members of the community themselves that choose what they want. In this particular case, the Ministry of Local Government took it upon themselves and chose for constituencies something they had not asked for themselves”.
He insisted that there was corruption involved.
“Yes, some needed ambulances, others did not. We asked fundamental questions, what was the interest of the Ministry of Local Government to get the money yet the constituents themselves know where Toyota Zambia is, they know where CFAO is, if they wanted, they would have gone to procure and I’m sure by now those ambulances would have come. So when we raised issues we were saying these [smell] of corruption, somebody must be interested in that money, somebody is interested in kickbacks, and decided to do that. And yet the people who are doing all these things are appointees of President Hakainde Hichilema. We wonder up to now what sort of control he has over his appointees,” Mundubile said.
He further said a serious government would have fired Phiri before he even pledged to resign for a flawed procurement.
“The PS is now behaving like he’s got all the power, he can decide to fool the Zambian people that I will resign, and his [superiors] are watching. A serious government should have just fired him even before he said he would resign, they should have fired him for that flawed procurement. You can’t allow PSs that are failing to execute their duty, PSs that are involved in questionable procurement contracts. When a contract fails, you don’t start listening to the PS on what new terms he’s introducing, there’s nothing like resigning or not resigning on the contract. This was expected right from the beginning because we knew it was a corrupt procurement, it was a procurement induced by selfish interests, that’s the issue that has to be addressed in this failure,” said Mundubile.
(Credit: News diggers)
The president cannot listen to this, he will not do or say anything. How can people refund kickbacks? He prefers they have a bit of money. This one is different from KK or Mwanawasa.
Do you have evidence Sir? I bet you have none, that’s why you can’t even dare point at any single individual because you are very afraid of joining Munir Zulu’s fellowship in jail.
Because you used to getting kick backs so you think everybody is like you. NO baba. What yiu should understand, is that, the supplier is not a manufacturer of the ordered Ambulances, the supplier is not getting the Ambulances from within Zambia but from abroad which can take months ifr he whole consignment to be here especially that water transport is being used and the delivery has already started, so what is the problem with you mudubile, this UPND new dawn government is not like you who were supplying in most cases air. N o. The order is very soon going to be completed. No need of cancelling it just because of the noise coming you and your like minded crooks, No. You just want to create another length procurement process and delay further the aquistion of the Ambulances. No baba continue coughing hope you will not chock yourself
I think its important that the truth comess out on this issue.
You can not be said to be in the forefront in the fight against corruption with issues and Permanent Secretaries making statements to be held accountable on such an issue and then back tracking. It turns the entire government as an institution into a joke. And credibility is back into the gutter when this regime took over.
Who will make a distinction between this and the recent past regime.
With all due respect, UPND needs to start by cleaning house. Get rid of Ministers and Permanent Secretaries who as unprinicipled as The local government ps. His utterances are just beneath a PS and we can not have jokers in government. Let him make such childish remarks in his home and his family who can condone frivolus statements that lack seriousness. If UPND allow such statements to persist; then all manner of lies will be the order of the day. Which is an insult to the electorate. Undermining the collective effort of hardworking individuals in the Party and the civil service.
Did it hurt to say that?
If they can lie about little things, they can also lie about bigger things.
Holding the government accountable is not only a job for the opposition, but all citizens.
If more praise singers and cadres like you start questioning their methods, then government would achieve wonders because they would have nowhere to hide. Instead, praise singers tend to protect every nonsense that government of the day does.
God bless Captain Ibrahim Traore.
VOTE FOR CHANGE IN 2026.
The so called “UPND Praise Singers” have the brains, fair minded and decent enough to criticize when criticism is due, unlike those who just spray and smear toxicity DAILY.
Thank you bo Simpo. I have always Indigo is a fool. Incapable of an ounce of rational objective thought. Just an empty vessel who soul existence is malice and hand outs. With a mind like his what if anything of substance can he produce? A parot of garbage in and garbage out.
What has the ambulances got to with you
You opposed their order, now you want to them to arrive at your convenience. If you have proof of kick backs go ACC and report the culprits.
The true is that you are just disillusioned with you life and your politics which is going nowhere.
You have hit the nail on the head and phiri, the goal changing PS must have got the lions share.