Proliferation of political parties

In the last couple of months the country has witnessed a number of new political parties being formed. We have had parties fronted by Elias Chipimo, Charles Milupi and more recently Peter Magande. There are already more than 10 existing opposition parties with the leading parties being PF (Sata), UPND (Hakainde) and UNIP. While we recognise the right of every Zambian to aspire to lead our beautiful country, a dose of reality is also necessary. Other than PF, none of the other parties stand a chance of unseating the ruling MMD. Data from past elections prove this.

2002 Presidential Elections: MMD 28.69%, UPND 26.76%, FDD 12.96%.

2006 Presidential Elections: MMD 43%, PF 29.4%, UPND 25.3%.

2008 Presidential Elections: MMD 40%, PF 38.1%, UPND 19.7%.

The data set clearly shows that forming more political parties will just increase the chances of the MMD retaining power as the opposition votes will simply be split. This is the reason why a number of us were excited by the possibility of the PF/UPND PACT fielding a single candidate in the next presidential elections. This presented the best chance to rid the country of the discredited MMD government. Unfortunately the PACT seems to be crumbling in the last few days and we are once again heading for an election where the opposition are fighting each other.

Milupi, Chipomo and Magande need to put personal interests second and help revitalise the PACT. This is what the majority of Zambians want. They do not need more one-man parties. Let us be clear, Magande has no political following. The man even struggled to win the Chilanga seat. Chipimo is a political novice while Milupi thinks his success in leading the public account committee (PAC) in the National Assembly is proof that he can win the next elections.

I am not a fan of Sata but at the moment he presents the best chance of changing the course of the country. Lets all do everything in our power to help him win the elections next year. I have suggested in the past that HH could be Sata’s Vice President to enable him gain some experience of being in government with the view of running for President in 2016.

I also appeal to PF and UPND to stop the public squabbling, concentrate cementing the PACT and start drawing a strategy for next elections. The MMD have already started their campaign with a series of adverts on ZXNBC and You tube!

The PANEL

Auditor General’s report: Where are the voices?

Former President FTJ Chiluba once said Zambians are docile. This is because when we witness an outrage we jump up and down for a few days and then forget it ever happened. The only exception to this, ironically, was Chiluba’s 3^rd Term bid which faced sustained opposition until he gave up.

Every year the Office of the Auditor General produces a report outlining how public funds are being spent by government and quasi government institutions. Each year we read about clear cases of abuse of public resources and yet nothing seems to be done to punish these plunderers.

After the release of the latest report, the Minister of Finance was quoted as saying GRZ needs time to study this report before taking any action. I am sorry but some of these incidents are obvious and do not need further investigation. Any half competent judge or jury would recognise the abuse of public funds.

To demonstrate this fact I will highlight the example of a contract awarded by National Airports Corporation (NACL) to supply and install a generator at Lusaka international Airport.

On 3rd April 2008 NACL awarded a tender for the supply, delivery, installation, testing and commissioning of 800 KVA Three Phase 50Hz 1500 RPM Standby Generator Set at Lusaka International Airport to Sulmach Limited at a contract price of K1,410,000,000 with a delivery period of twenty (20) weeks. Works commenced on 14th May 2008 and were scheduled to be completed by 15th October 2008. A total of K1,142,003,600 (inclusive of an advance payment of K846,000,000) representing 80% of the contract price had been paid to the contractor as of August 2009 leaving a balance of K267,996,400 outstanding. The following were observed:

In April 2009, the contractor could not proceed with the civil works due to liquidity problems. In this regard, an advance payment of K30,000,000 was made to the contractor despite the earlier advance payment having been made contrary to the conditions of the contract that required certification of completed works before payment could be made.

The building under construction in which the Generator set would be housed did not meet some of the technical specifications outlined in the signed contract. For instance the contractor did not make a provision for a generator plinth contrary to the technical specifications provided by the employer in the contract

A physical verification of the civil works carried out in August 2009, revealed that construction works had stalled and the contractor was not on site.

Consequently, the generator set which had been supplied twelve months earlier in September 2008 had not been installed.

The facts of this case speak for themselves. NACL clearly awarded this contract to a company incapable for completing the task and had liquidity problems. K1,142,003,600 of public money has been pocketed by a private company without fulfilling its obligations in full under the contract. The NACL board or the Minister should sack the person(s) who made decision to award the contract and advance funds to the contractor.

The report is full of similar clear cut examples of abuse.

There is no point in having an Office of the Auditor General if parliament and government agencies do not take note and act on its findings. What is the point of carrying out these costly audits if the plunders are not punished?

The Panel.