People who supplied ‘air’ to govt are paid millions of dollars – HH
By Chambwa Moonga
PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema has given Attorney General Mulilo Dimus Kabesha and Solicitor General Marshal Mubambe Muchende an early assignment of doing a checklist on the Constitution, so as to attend to existing lacunae therein.
Meanwhile, President Hichilema says the Ministry of Finance is critical in his government’s mission to reconstruct the economy.
At State House yesterday, President Hichilema swore-in Kabesha, Muchende, Bank of Zambia Governor Denny Hamachila Kalyalya and secretary to the treasury Felix Nkulukusa.
The swearing-in of the aforementioned constitutional office holders follows their ratification by the National Assembly on Wednesday, in accordance with Articles 177, 179, 183 and 214 of the Constitution.
The quartet took and subscribed oaths of office and allegiance, in accordance with Article 260 of the Constitution of Zambia.
Kabesha and Muchende also took the oath of State Counsel after presentations of letters of patent, as provided for by the legal practitioners’ Act CAP 30 of the laws of Zambia.
Section 15 (1) of the legal practitioners Act CAP 30 provides that “upon appointment of any person to the office of Attorney General, Solicitor General or Director of Public Prosecutions, the rank and dignity of a State Counsel for Zambia shall be conferred upon that person by the President.”
Acting Chief Justice Michael Musonda and justice minister Mulambo Haimbe witnessed the swearing-in of Kabesha and Muchende, while the swearing-in of Dr Kalyalya and Nkulukusa was witnessed by finance minister Situmbeko Musokotwane.
Vice-President Mutale Nalumango was also present during the event.
President Hichilema reminded Kabesha and Muchende that they have been officers of courts for quite some time and hopes they would uphold respectability that needs to be granted to the judiciary.
“The positions you occupy are critical to the delivery of justice in our country, to respect human rights, liberties and freedoms,” President Hichilema said. “You should render advice to us in a manner that respects the rights of citizens. We believe that you’ll discharge your duties diligently not to the President, per se. But to the people of Zambia! The President is a conduit only to serving the people of Zambia. People have suffered for years [and] they need to be redeemed. You play an important role in that respect.”
He emphasised that there is excess delay in the delivery of justice and that there is need to work towards finding a way of speeding justice delivery to Zambians.
“Justice delayed is justice denied! Citizens expect justice – they go to court to seek justice. You are not judges, but you are critical in the delivery of justice in our country,” he noted. “This country is losing a lot of money on paying fictitious creditors. People who have supplied air to government are paid millions of dollars. People who have supplied expired drugs are paid millions of dollars.”
The President indicated that: “sometimes one invoice is paid twice, three times.”
“We need to address the legalities around this issue, which is causing Zambians to lose millions of kwacha which ought to go the youth, the sick and the retirees,” he said.
President Hichilema said over the past two months he has been in office, “I have spent time to understand in greater detail how the government systems have failed the people.”
“I’m shocked with what I have discovered,” he said, adding that if anyone knew what was going on in the government in the past 10 years, they would fall off. “[There has been loss of] staggering amounts of money. And everybody appears to think the President is awkward. I’m not awkward. They think I’m not quite normal because it became normal to steal money from the public.”
President Hichilema advised Kabesha and Muchende to render progressive legal opinion to the government.
“We expect you to put your foot down to render advice to your people that will assist us in saving resources from being stolen,” he said, stressing that he is not available for undertakings that would result in wastage of public resources. “I have no second thoughts about doing what is right. It’s essential [that] we need to change the way legal opinions are rendered, and that’s why you’ve been selected and not just to occupy positions.”
He told Kabesha and Muchende that their appointment is meant to: “move us away from abnormal behaviour taken as normal behaviour, so that what is right becomes what is normal in this country.”
“Do not front fear in your roles. If you front fear, you’ll not make it. Do what is right!” President Hichilema said.
He added that the Constitution is flawed in that when there is a change of government, the Attorney General and Solicitor General, once a new President is sworn-in, fall away, “leaving a huge lacuna in the management of public affairs.”
“And you can only bring in the Attorney General and the Solicitor General upon going through the processes of approvals or vetting…You are lawyers; how did you frame this Constitution?” President Hichilema wondered. “The President is sworn-in, but he has no Attorney General, Solicitor General and to bring in these two he needs a lengthy process, which requires Parliament… These are the issues that we expect you to guide this government, to quickly checklist the lacunae in the Constitution, working with Law Association of Zambia and other stakeholders.”
He further indicated that the law is not a preserve of lawyers but the people who own the laws.
“So, let us consult. So, this is one of your early assignments to do the checklist, in consultation with others,” President Hichilema urged.
To Dr Kalyalya and Nkulukusa, President Hichilema reminded them that the Ministry of Finance (where the appointees fall) is critical in ensuring that the people’s desired economic transformation, “under our administration,” is implemented expeditiously.
He is hopeful that three competent citizens in Dr Kalyalya, Nkulukusa and Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) commissioner general Dingani Banda, manning three critical institutions would help the government’s quest to reconstruct the economy.
“For you, Mr Nkulukusa, you are aware of the dealings in the Ministry of Finance. You know how payments are made. How even non-deserving suppliers get paid first in that ministry!” President Hichilema said. “We hope you can deal with that, and focus on expenditure that is tilted towards revenue generation.”
President Hichilema told Dr Kalyalya that he is going back to the central bank at a very critical time.
“We all know you know the bank very well. You know the challenges of the bank – why it was not performing well. Partially, it’s because there was no political will to do the right things. [But] the political will under this government is there, to get the bank to play its rightful role,” said President Hichilema. “The good news is that you are not learning anything new, except that you have an opportunity to do things that you were not able to do before for the good of the people. This is my way of encouraging you to be positively aggressive, knowing that the political leadership will give you the support.”