By Peter Sinkamba

UPND GOVT CHIPANTEPANTE STRATEGY WILL SURELY LAND SOME GOVT OFFICIALS IN PRISON AFTER CHANGE OF GOVT: THE CASE OF CHIAWA FARM FISHY GOVT PROCUREMENT OF US$13.5 MILLION

Last week, Zambia Nation Service (ZNS) and Zambia Correctional Service (ZCS) announced to the nation that they had purchased Chiawa Farm at the whooping cost of US$13.5 million.

Perusal of the budget estimated and Appropriation Act for 2024 concerning the two institutions does not show any allocation and approval by Parliament to the two institutions to buy such an asset.

Perusal of the Public Procurement Regulations 2022 and Public Finance Management Act 2018 does not show which authority the two institutions could have relied upon to procure this asset.

Most irritating is perusal of the Land Act 1995. This Act vests all land in the President. The Act does not have any provision which allow Governmentent to buy land in Zambia. How then Government, through ZNS and ZCS, has bought land in Zambia beats everybody’s imagination.

Now, the Secretary to the Treasury (ST), who is the public officer vested with the authority by the Public Finance Management Act 2018 to issue treasury authority for disbursement of public funds says ZNS and ZCS were never granted authority to buy Chiawa Farm. The ST says iather, it is Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) that is interested to buy the farm.

The question is: when did ZNS and ZCS join the IDC group of companies? Put differently, when did ZNS and ZCS convert to be come parastatal companies?

Someone somewhere is not telling the truth. But whatever the case on this Chiawa Farm, it appears to me that heads will roll one day soon after 2026 elections, when UPND is no more in government.

There is clear breach of attendant laws and procedure on the procurement of the farm be it by ZNS, ZCS or IDC.

Only time will tell which individuals have stacked their necks on the chopping board.😄😄😄😄