HEALTH PS DENIES OWNING COMPANY, AWARDEDING $6.8 MILLION TENDER
MINISTRY of Health Permanent Secretary for Administration Professor Christopher Simoonga has parried away accusations that he awarded a US$6.8 million contract to a company he is linked to.
Reacting to a newspaper report that alleged that he awarded a $6.8 million contract to a company linked to Chreso University, where he served as Vice Chancellor, to facilitate the implementation of a programme for HIV/ AIDS prevention, Prof Simoonga said he had been maliciously scandalised.
The controversy arose from a Global Fund report dated July 29, 2024, which detailed concerns over the procurement of an NGO to implement AGYW HIV/AIDS prevention activities under a $13.4 million grant.
Chreso Ministries emerged as the top bidder through a selective tender process but the Global Fund flagged issues of conflict of interest and procedural irregularities.
The report alleged that Prof. Simoonga, as chairperson of the procurement committee, was actively involved in approving key stages of the process despite declaring a conflict of interest.
It also noted that the selective tendering excluded several qualified NGOs from the initial bidding process, raising questions about fairness and transparency.
Following these findings, the Global Fund declined approval for Chreso Ministries and recommended reconstituting the procurement committee and called for stricter conflict of I interest protocols.
In an interview with Kalemba, Prof Simoonga denied ever owning a company or awarding the contract to any company stating that his record is clear of corruption scandals.
Prof. Simoonga dismissed claims that he owns shares in Chreso Ministries or played a role in awarding the contentious contract, calling the accusations baseless and damaging to his reputation.
“My record is very clear. I have been in the Ministry of Health since 1996 and I have never taken a single ngwee from any government process,” he said.
“First of all, I don’t own a company nor do I have any shares in Chreso Ministries. It is a faith-based organisation registered by guarantee, not by shares. These allegations are false and the headline is misleading.”
Professor Simoonga explained that the procurement process in question was discontinued following objections from the Global Fund which flagged procedural concerns, including insufficient public advertisement of the tender.
“Global Fund processes require a no objection at every stage. When we sought a no objection for this particular procurement, they declined, citing inadequate advertisement of the tender. The process was discontinued and is currently under evaluation. The claim that I awarded $6.8 million is completely false, those are lies,” he stated.
“It’s an issue of the local law versus the expectations of the Global Fund but we don’t know the expectation of the Global Fund because they have never given us a document that says the following things are what we expect when you are running a procurement tender so those are the issues.”
On the decision to declare interest, the professor explained that his decision to declare interest and recuse himself was purely moral, given his previous affiliation with Chreso University and not due to any ongoing ties.
“I was Vice Chancellor of Chreso University from November 2018, until April when I joined the Ministry of Health. While Chreso Ministries and Chreso University are sister organizations under the same church umbrella, I have no official connection to either entity. I declared my interest and handed over the chairmanship of the procurement process to avoid any doubts. This is documented and transparent,” he said.
He also clarified that the cancellation of the tender was unrelated to any conflict of interest as it resulted from the Global Fund’s insistence on broader participation in the tender process.
Prof. Simoonga attributed the controversy to political interference and competing interests among stakeholders vying for control of Global Fund grants.
“The Zambia Public Procurement Act (ZPPA) allows for selective tendering, which we followed. However, the Global Fund has additional expectations beyond local law, which we discussed with them. They requested that the tender be advertised widely, leading to its cancellation,” he said.
“There’s a lot of politics behind this funding. Some people feel that if a particular NGO is chosen, others might lose out. This has created unnecessary drama,” he noted.
Proffessor Simoonga said he was considering legal action against News Diggers over the report.
Kalemba