By Fanny Kalonda
NEW Heritage Party president Chishala Kateka has expressed concern over President Hakainde Hichilema’s quietness on the fertiliser scandal in the ruling party, while a procurement issue that involved less than a million kwacha received his urgent attention.
Featuring on Radio Pheonix’s Let the People Talk programme on Friday, Kateka wondered why President Hichilema had been quiet on the fertiliser scandal where the country spent over US $50 million.
“A couple of days ago, I think the President was talking about some procurement officers that were going to sign off a house worth K200,000 at K800,000. There have been cases that have been brought up, for example the fertiliser [scam] of 50 million dollars that the President has not said a single word about. So, even if he had come up and said that I am asking for the whatever to investigate…” she said.
“So, we’re talking about something that is less than a million kwacha, there is an action immediately. But we are talking about something that is over 50 million and we have not heard anything about it. So, we are left to wonder what is going on.”
Kateka said the fight against corruption should not be limited to certain individuals or political parties.
She said corruption should not be looked at from a political affiliation angle but from a national one.
“I think that it should not matter whether the corruption was committed in the Patriotic Front or done in the UPND. We must make examples of situations. When we are talking about corruption, let us look at everything and everyone regardless of who they are – whether they are PF or UPND or Heritage. When we are corrupt, we are corrupt. Let us face the same law,” Kateka said.
And Kateka suggested that there was need to ensure permanent secretaries were not appointed by the President, arguing that this caused them to be loyal to an individual instead of the nation.
She said the fact that permanent secretaries were appointed by the President meant that they were only loyal to the appointing authority instead of the people.
“I think that PSs going down should not be appointed by the President, my view. That is why they are called permanent secretaries. Permanent secretaries going down should not be appointed by the President as they should be professional people. They are the CEOs of the organisation, so when the board which is Cabinet changes, they still remain,” Kateka explained.
“And that is what gives stability to government. That gives institutional memory to what is happening. If you employ me, do you think I will go against what you tell me? My loyalty is to you and not to the nation. We need people that are loyal to the nation. We adopted the British system where you have the permanent secretary and you have your Cabinet up there. But in Zambia we have gone down to appointing PSs. The President appoints all these little people! We must have stability with our system. Loyalty of the civil service must not be to a party. It must be to the nation.”
Meanwhile, Kateka said the problem with the UPND administration was that they were putting a timeframe to the promises made as people believed what they were told.
“For example, my maid lives in Mtendere East. So after the election she would go immediately to the shops to check if the prices of mealie meal had gone down. So, there are certain people who would believe the lies that they are told. I will ask my fellow politicians; can we be responsible when we make promises as people hold on to these,” said Kateka.
“People hang on and see us as messiah, and when we let them down, it is devastating. They are human beings. The problem with the UPND is that when they were campaigning, they were adding a timeframe and people held on to the promises made to them. This is crisis of expectation.”