MAGWENDE SACRIFICED
…corruption under UPND is methodical, says Mundubile
By Kombe Mataka
BRIAN Mundubile has challenged the UPND to come clean on the US $100 million prefab hospitals.
He says fired Ministry of Health permanent secretary for administration George Magwende has been sacrificed to save face of the government.
“So what we have realised is that the meticulous and methodical approach is in another form of corruption. The corruption under the UPND is methodical and meticulous going by what happened to the US $100 million deal,” Mundubile charged.
Mundubile, the Mporokoso PF member of parliament, told The Mast that it was good that documents surrounding the contract were now in public domain because PF was dismissed when it raised a red flag on the same.
“The documents are in public domain now surrounding the procurement of this particular contract. It is not so much about when it was started and who started it. It is so much about who contacted and the manner in which they contracted,” Mundubile, the leader of the opposition in parliament, said.
“If you remember my issue there and my question in parliament was the US $100 million that is shrouded in secrecy. At that time we were saying it is shrouded in secrecy and I went further to say, it smells of corruption because of the manner in which it was being handled. The Vice-President [Mutale Nalumango] then answered and said ‘It was actually cancelled’. We went on further to say, ‘how was it cancelled if the contract was properly procured?’”
Mundubile said the UPND had absconded all queries about the contract.
“So if at all the reason for cancellation was corruption or malpractice, why is the President quiet because the President came to House and told us that he will be naming and shaming when it comes to corruption. And we saw him go out on our colleague for owning a house worth US $150,000. Bowman is a case. Our concern was why was the President quiet when a contract for US $100 million dollars that was questionable…” he asked.
Mundubile said cancelling the contract confirmed the PF suspicions.
“It was only cancelled after we raised issue. After [PF spokesperson] honourable [Raphael] Nakacinda raised issue. They quickly cancelled. Now does this mean it wasn’t properly procured? If it followed all the procedures, why did they cancel it because Zambia as a country is likely to lose money in damages. The contractor will sue for damages. He can walk away with as much as 30 per cent of the contract sum for doing nothing because he has been inconvenienced,” he warned. “You see when a decision is made that we are going to build hospitals in three provinces, what follows now is the procurement process. A transparent process entails there was an advert. People compete. The companies compete. The tender process and the selection is open because that is what the President promised the Zambian people. That he was going to be transparent and accountable and ‘I will go by the book, I will be meticulous. I will be methodical. So what we have realised is that the meticulous and methodical approach is in another form of corruption. The corruption under the UPND is methodical and meticulous going by what happened to the US $100 million deal.”
And Mundubile said the fired Ministry of Health permanent secretary for administration George Magwende has been sacrificed to save face of the government.
“George Magwende has just been sacrificed. That is the point and we still need an explanation. What was the malpractice? Have you (government ) called out the problem? We still want to know. Will the contractor claim damages? The Attorney General [Mulilo Kabesha] approved, Secretary to the Treasury [Felix Nkulukusa] approved. Everybody approved. So why has the PS being sacrificed?” asked Mundubile. “Secondly, with all that process that is called a due process, it means the contractor can sue for damages. So where is the invisible hand in this procurement? All we know is there is an invisible hand and government should come clean. It is a South African company, friendly to UPND…This is what our issue is when we say there is corruption in the UPND. Secondly we are saying there is no sincerity when it comes to fighting corruption. If there was so much noise made over Lusambo’s house, why should the President be quiet over US $100 million?”