Dr George Mangwende

By Tenson Mkhala,

MINISTRY of Health permanent secretary in charge of administration Dr George Magwende says the investigations being conducted by a joint team of investigative wings are based on past transactions that could have taken place at the Ministry.

A combined team of law enforcement agencies consisting of ACC, DEC and the Zambia Police today conducted a search at the Ministry of Health headquarters in Lusaka.

There was heavy police presence at the entrance of Ndeke House and entering or exiting the premises was not allowed, except for top officials such as directors and Permanent secretaries.

The search which started as early as 07:00 hours only ended around 17:00 hours

And speaking to journalists, Dr Magwende said the search had been necessitated following the queries raised when the Ministry appeared before the Public Accounts Committee.

“The Honourable Minister did observe that you were standing here and so she thought it wise that I should speak to you people regarding what is going on. You notice that there are police officers and they came in the morning to basically carry out what they are calling the routine check of some transactions that could have been taken place in the past.

The staff that were allowed to go in were very cooperative and I think officers can attest to that. Officers themselves are from the ACC,DEC and the Zambia police and they are being very professional. Very friendly and I think our interaction has been very cordial.

The cooporation has been superb from the Minister herself, the PSs, the directors and everyone that has been called to cooperate in the investigations. So, they are basically doing some investigations based on past transactions,” said Dr Magwende.

“They are doing both, looking at the documents as well as speaking to some of the officers that were being called. As you realised not everyone was allowed in for some time.

I am sure you are aware of what has been going on, particularly the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC), queries of what was happening in terms of interaction or engagements at the Ministry and so, I am sure these departments work in a system so this could be an extension to that.”

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