No One Pocketed the FTJ Chiluba University Advance Payment – Select Committee Reveals in Parliament
…as Dust on FTJ Advance Payment Put to Rest as Parliament Hears the Select Committee Report…
Parliament News, 31st July, 2024 (SMART EAGLES)
Patriotic Front Member of Parliament Hon. Stephen Kampyongo addressed concerns regarding the $3,750,000 advance payment made to FTJ Chiluba University, affirming the payment’s compliance with all contractual and financial protocols.
Referring to the Speaker’s select committee report, Hon. Kampyongo highlighted that the advance payment adhered to clause 14.2 of the commercial contract and was financed through an export credit arrangement.
“Mr. Speaker, what you are being told in your report here is that the advance payment was made in accordance with the provisions of the commercial contract clause 14.2 and similarly the project was financed through the export credit arrangement which required the borrower to make an advance payment to the contractor before the main lender could commence disbursements to the project,” Hon. Kampyongo clarified.
In the lead-up to the 2021 general election and thereafter, the UPND alleged that the Patriotic Front Government had misappropriated the advance payment for the FTJ Chiluba University project. However, the select committee’s findings, as presented by the Secretary to the Treasury, contradicted these claims.
“According to the Secretary to the Treasury as recorded in this report, the total sum of $3,750,000 paid as advance payment will be recovered in full once a final account is prepared,” Kampyongo stated.
“If someone had pocketed this money, how is it going to be recovered in full?” he questioned.
Hon. Kampyongo commended the Secretary to the Treasury for addressing all raised concerns effectively and urged Parliament to refrain from speculation.
“There’s no need for members of Parliament to start speculating because this document has become a public document now,” he said.
“So those who had queries, here are the responses. And we must thank your committee for making sure that all the matters that they dealt with were transparent.”
He further called for a focus on factual deliberation rather than emotional or propagandistic discourse.
“It’s very important that when we are deliberating on these matters, we don’t use emotions, we don’t use propaganda which could have been churned out to try and malign certain officers, be it in government or at the Ministry of Health,” Kampyongo emphasized.