By Darious Kapembwa
SPORT, Youth and Arts minister Elvis Nkandu says it is good to hear PF national chairman Davies Chama confirming that party cadres in the former ruling party used to supply air to the government.
And government has demanded a refund from Mahogany Air chief executive officer Jim Belemu for the costs incurred when the company failed to deliver a chartered plane that was supposed to pick the national team from Ivory Coast last week.
Last Thursday, Mahogany Airline failed to deliver a chartered plane despite being paid the full amount, which resulted in the government delegation and supporters failing to travel and subsequently delayed the national team’s return from Yamossoukro, Ivory Coast.
Several stakeholders have commented on the matter, with Chama, a former defence minister in the previous regime, accusing Dr Belemu of being a UPND cadre who has supplied air to the government.
Chama further called on President Hkainde Hichilema to take action on Mahogany Airline.
“They have been saying PF allowed people who supplied air; this is what this government has been complaining about to the Zambian people. They accused suppliers under our government of supplying air. And now their own cadre Belemu has supplied air at a time when we have no resources in the economy,” said Chama. “I am challenging President Hakainde Hichilema to tell the nation what he will do to his permanent secretaries at Cabinet Office who processed and approved this payment. How do you spend $275,000 to just go and watch football for 90 minutes and you come back? The President should tell the nation what he will do about this scandal where his own government pays money to someone who does not deliver. Are they going to recover this money or are they going to blacklist Belemu the same way they have backlisted contractors who dealt with the PF government? Their own cadre has also delivered air. So I don’t expect the President to keep quiet about this because he has been preaching prudence and transparency in his government.”
But addressing journalists at his office on Wednesday, Nkandu said Chama and his colleagues from the PF should be the last to comment on such matters because he did not understand the issues.
“I am happy that Chama has just confirmed that cadres in the previous regime used to supply air. First of all, let me say, in my language we say uwakupata takakwebepo ati busuma bobe (a person that hates you will never tell you how beautiful you are),” he said. “Davies is lucky to [have] been a minister because he has never been elected anywhere. He has never been scrutinised by the Zambian people. He was just appointed. Me I was elected by the people of Kaputa. Therefore, he can’t challenge President Hakainde Hichilema because him and President Hichilema are very far apart.”
He disclosed that Mahogany had been dealing with government as far back as 2015 when the PF was in power.
Nkandu wondered whether Dr Belemu was a PF cadre that time and only switched to UPND after the August 2021 general election.
“Chama has no moral right to talk about issues because he and his government were architects of all manner of wrongs that exist. The new dawn administration does not engage in that. The records that we found show that this is not the first time Mahogany is being contracted. Since 2015 they have been dealing with government,” Nkandu explained. “Now, is Chama saying Dr Belemu was a PF cadre? You see, a criminal will always think of others as criminals. The PF has just confessed that they really supplied air to the government and saying our cadres have now started doing the same. No, we don’t operate like that in the new dawn. For us, it’s the quality and timely delivery at the right price.”
He said Mahogany issued the cheapest quotation of the three that were sent to the ministry, with the other two indicating US $290,000, the other one was US $283,000 and Mahogany’s US $224,000.
But Nkandu said the government was very disappointed that Mahogany did not provide the service after being paid in full.
“We have demanded for a report from Mahogany and a refund for the expenses we incurred, we suffered because we now had to look for accommodation for the team in Yamossoukro,” he said. “And also, here at the airport we have to spend money. Also, we paid for going and coming but we didn’t go and only players were brought back. So, in a layman’s language, it was just one way instead of two and we are demanding a refund on these terms.”
During the same briefing, Dr Belemu regretted the inconvenience caused and explained that the plane was discovered to have developed a mechanical fault after it had already left South Africa and was forced to return to base so that it could be worked on.
He reluctantly agreed to the government demand to refund part of the money and the expenses incurred after his team did calculations.
But Dr Belemu’s lack of clarity when asked why he seemed unwilling to refund the money did not sit well with Nkandu who said thoiyoe ministry paid the ticketing office at Cabinet Office which was later paid to the airline.
Nkandu put it firmly to Dr Belemu that the money needed to be refunded because there was no space for wastage of public funds in the new dawn administration, stressing that the money that was lost could have been used on other sporting needs.
Dr Belemu said he had taken the minister’s demands into consideration and further explained the technicalities involved in the airline charter business.
He also subtly complained of being labeled a cadre, saying Zambians needed to support each other’s businesses in order for calls for local citizens to participate in the economy to bear fruit.