GROWING TALK, RHETORIC, DON’T BE DECEIVED BY HICHILEMA – M’MEMBE
By New Dawn Reporter
DON’T be deceived by Hakainde Hichilema when he says his administration is committed about the fight against corruption, respect of the rule of law and the enhancement of good governance, opposition Socialist Party (SP) leader Fred M’membe has charged.
Dr. M’membe observes that President Hichilema is quick to denounce corruption and pretend as if he supports and respects the rule of law when what he does is opposite from his claims.
” We shouldn’t be deceived by the rhetoric from Mr Hakainde Hichilema about fighting corruption ‘within the law’, about the rule of law, democracy or good governance. He doesn’t mean what he says. He talks highly about corruption, rule of law, justice and democracy when they do the opposite,” he said.
He said if the the UPND government was serious about fighting corruption, President Hichilema should not have single sourced Maurice Jangulo’s company Alpha Commodities, the company owned by the husband to Chushi Kasanda who is Minister of Media and Information.
Dr. M’membe wondered why President Hichilema has failed to explain the single sourcing of the fertilizer at a high cost on the Zambian people.
“Why has Mr Hichilema failed to explain why his government single-sourced Maurice Jangulo’s Alpha Commodities to supply 37,000 tonnes of fertilizers at $1,407 per tonne while the general market price is $1,000 per tonne – stealing an additional $15.059 million from the Zambian people in super-profits. Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia (NCZ) was given to supply 13,000 tonnes of fertilisers at $1,000 per tonne. On top of this Jangulo had no stocks of fertilizers and started going around trying to source the commodity from his competitors whom he had discredited in an audit he had initiated and influenced,” he said.
The Socialist Party leader has since challenged President Hichilema and his administration to stop the rhetoric and explain why Jangulo was allowed to control the process.
“We challenge this government to stop the rhetoric and explain to the Zambian people why Jangulo was allowed to control, direct, manipulate and falsify a fertiliser audit under its supervision and control. This is pure corruption that this government and the state agencies (ACC, DEC) and the police – under its control have failed to deal with. Why? Our simple and only explanation is that Jangulo is too close to the key leaders of this government to be touched. He is their partner – he works and eats with them. There is a need to approach the fight against corruption, the rule of law, democracy and governance with the seriousness that they deserve,” said Dr. M’membe.