HAS MAURICE JANGULO BECOME THE NEW DAWN’S RASPUTIN?.
By John Phiri
That every throne attracts its own rogue is exemplified by how long myths and truths have persisted about one Grigory Rasputin since the days of Russian Emperor Nichholas II.
According to Albinko Hasic, writing in a publication in 2016, the life and death of Grigory Rasputin is shrouded in mythology, as a mystic healer, political saboteur and renegade monk.
What is relevant to this discussion is that Rasputin wormed his way into the household of Tsar Nicholas II by promising, largely via Tsarina Alexandra, that he could cure their sick son of hemophilia.
He proceeded to use his new position to attract to himself many dubious benefits, resulting in many believing that he had the Russian royal court spellbound by some special powers.
The amount of press that Alfa Commodities owner Maurice Jangulo is getting, and the government’s failure to explain why he was given a fertiliser contract worth $50 million and paid immediately, without open tender, is beginning to suggest he has a strange hold on the New Dawn government, especially as regards his near mythical qualifications as Zambia’s fertiliser supremo now seemingly destined to hog the lucrative government fertiliser supply contracts space.
Like Rasputin promised Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra a cure for their son, Jangulo is reported to have assured President Hakainde Hichilema and the Ministry of Agriculture that he had capacity to end the immediate fertiliser supply problems plaguing Southern Province, and thereafter ensure steady, efficient supply countrywide.
To kick off his fertiliser supply coup, it is understood he “recommended” the single sourcing of a private company, known as MVC Consultants, to conduct a forensic audit of the government fertiliser supply contracts of the past decade, and especially the last contracts given by the previous government, zeroing in on the Fertiliser Support Programme for 2021/2022 season.
So far there the government has given no credible information to prove there was a transparent process to engage this firm to do the audit.
But there is a letter by Ministry of Agriculture Permanent Secretary Green Mbozi to all Provincial Agricultural Coordinators to give MVC Consultants unfettered access to the data they sought.
‘’…This serves to inform you that the Ministry has engaged MVC Consultants to help with monitoring of the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) programme implementation for the 2021/2022 season.
The consultants are currently in the field in all provinces following up the implementation of FISP. You are all being urged to support the consultants’ activities as they carry out their work.
Please urgently communicate the contents of this minute to all districts under your charge.’’ ’’ read the letter in part dated December 3, 2021 and signed by Mbozi
This is the audit that Socialist Party President Fred M’membe said was manipulated by Jangulo to point accusing fingers at all the other major fertiliser suppliers of greater capacity than his own Alfa Commodities.
That some of them were found not to have completed delivery of their consignments was used to “blacklist” all of them, including those that had delivered on their contracts, and still have not been paid in full for their work.
By this hatchet job Jangulo is said to be angling to position himself to be installed as the chief fertiliser supplier to the government, despite the miniscule capacity of his company Alfa Commodities.
Testimony of this is the fact that Alfa Commoditoes has struggled to supply the 37, 000 tonnes contracted for Southern PRovince, and resorted to buying the commodity from some of the same “discredited” competitors.
Some of this fertiliser supplied by Alfa Commodities has been found to be substandard and underweight.
M’membe and others have asked the government to explain this matter but the Ministry of Agriculture has remained silent.
Part if the explanation sought is why Alfa Commoddities has been allowed to supply fertiliser to the government at $1,407 while the competitors the audit sought to discredit supplied at $1,000.
The failure of government to explain these facts has now led to speculation that Jangulo is now the power in the Ministry of Agriculture, and is running the fertiliser power axis running from Alfa Commodities, Permanent Secretary Mbozi (said to have also been recommended by Jangulo) and State House.
The sooner the government comes out with credible explanations about this contract, the better for all concerned.
Otherwise speculation and innuendo regarding the power of Jangulo will continue to grow, much like Rasputin in the Russian royal court.
Because of his constant presence in the royal court, whispers grew that Rasputin was acting as a puppet master over the royal couple, wielding great power as an adviser, helping in appointing his own church ministers and other public officials.
If Jangulo and Mbozi both once worked together in high profile agribusiness operations would you blame those suggesting that the former recommended to latter for his current job, which is critical in processing the much sought after fertiliser contracts?
A minor point in this saga may be the actual timing of the signing of the contract between the government and Alfa Commodities, a point being canvassed to give the New Dawn government a minor escape route.
But this would be minor indeed, considering that in the only explanation Minister of Agriculture has given thus far, he stated categorically that the government decided to give a contract to Alfa to supply 37,000 tonnes.
Rasputin’s behavior and influence came to symbolize everything negative in Russian politics and society at the time.
Just like Rasputin, Jangulo, much like Kaizar Zulu in the Patriotic Front government, is emerging as a symbol of the kind of dealings that give Zambian governments a negative portrayal and a bad name.
Much like the tale of his murder, the aftermath of Rasputin’s death has been mythologized over the years.
According to legend, after Rasputin’s poisoned and shot body was thrown into the ice-cold river, he was fished out by a group of passersby, who found that he was still alive when they dragged his body to the shore of the river.
However, the truth is that after Rasputin’s already deceased corpse was thrown into the Malaya Nevka River, it took days for the police to find the body because the water had already frozen in the sub-zero Russian winter.
Jangulo too, is coming back from some kind of business death or failure. He was at the helm of what should have become Africa’s largest fertiliser supply company called Nyiombo.
Details of the plunder of that firm, the birth of Zambezi Airlines, and the eventual demise of both, is one whose facts are the subject of a different discussion.
ends.
ABOUT THE WRITTER.
John Phiri is former Editor Inchief at Times of Zambia.