ZAMWORTH INFRASTRUCTURE DEAL AND AG
I have difficulty appreciating why the former Attorney General Likando Kalaluka is being maligned for stating that he can’t remember what happened with the purchase of the Minstry of Infrastructure building unless he is availed the documentation.
Fairness demands that Mr Kalaluka should have been availed the document to refresh his memory. Its not easy for anyone who deals with hundreds of correspondence to remember every document he or she signed years ago.
What I know is that the job of any Attorney General, even the current one, is to advise Government and not private persons. If Attorney General Kalalula advised the Ministry of Infrastructure on the contract of sale and on variations of the special conditions, I don’t see how that would be wrong if Government took up the burden to pay Property Transfer Tax for purposes of reducing the cost of the purchase price of the building during negotiations.
However, Governement must be encouraged to inquire into the purchase of the building but beginning to crucify people in a court of public opinion without availing them the information to reflect and give an informed position is unjust on its own.
Am as shocked as everyone that Government has incurred interest of $25 million due to contractual breaches on payments. This is where I support President Hichilema who frowned upon contracts which had punitive clauses that have robbed the country of millions of money in interests. This culture has to come to an end.
One contractor once told me the reason why Governement purchases things like paper which costs K90 at K250 is because Govt does not pay on time. So usually a business would have to factor in the profits that would have been made due to delays in Government paying. This is understandable and makes business sense.
However, am against the idea of contracts where government is penalised for delayed payments of down payments. Inflated purchase price is draining the treasury of much needed resources. Already the story of the chartered plan at an inflated cost by the Ministry of Youth, this is how Government loses money. The Ministry of Youth and Sport has not learnt anything at all from the past