Staff Reporter
President Hakainde Hichilema must take action against his aides Dr. Lawrence Mwananyanda and Professor Roma Chilengi, if he is not the one who sent them to make phone calls to former Zambia Medicines and Medical Supplies Agency (ZAMMSA) director general Victor Nyasulu on procurement matters, says former home affairs minister Stephen Kampyongo.
During an appearance on the Hot Seat programme on Hot FM radio in Lusaka on Tuesday, Nyasulu disclosed that he received phone calls over procurement matters from President Hichilema’s special assistant for projects monitoring and implementation Dr. Mwanayanda and special assistant on health Professor Chilengi.
And commenting on the disclosure yesterday, Kampyongo said President Hichilema must show that he was not sending his aides to make calls on public procurement matters.
“If they were not being sent, probably it’s time for the appointing authority to act and show that they were not being sent, (that) they were acting on their own. And the only way to show that is by getting them punished,” Kampyongo said. “Those are gross … serious revelations and indeed action must be seen to be done, heads must roll.”
Kampyongo said it was sad that these revelations were coming at a time when the country was in a crisis.
“The US government has decided to withdraw their support on account of fraudsters, pilferage of many things. Basically, there is a breakdown in the supply chain because of wrong doing and then now names are being revealed,” he said. “Why can’t we get to the bottom of the causer?”
Kampyongo said the revelation was regrettable and of grave concern and spoke to why state institutions were not functioning.
He said Nyasulu was confessing to some of the malpractices in governance.
“So, if Mr. Nyasulu coming from one institution was making those confessions, what other institutions are influenced in that fashion?” he asked. “Would those who have been saying the judiciary is working under instructions or even other institutions, law enforcement agencies, would they be farfetched? Those are pertinent questions we should be asking.”
Kampyongo said Nyasulu’s assertions showed that governance had been reduced to such low levels.
He said that pointed to who was responsible for such irregularities that had been coming out of the Auditor General’s Report, the committee of parliament that went around on a fact finding mission on the status of the medical supply chain.
Kampyongo said he was happy that Nyasulu found the frustrations of the American Ambassador Michael Gonzales well grounded.
He also said the government could not claim that Zambia was a sovereign state only when they were called to account and to be transparent.
“It doesn’t work like that. You are a sovereign state that receives donor support from other countries. From other taxpayers,” he said.
Kampyongo said Nyasulu acknowledged that he attended some of the meetings, where the US Ambassador to Zambia and his team expressed their frustrations.
“Thirty three meetings! So how else would you want them to convey and how else would they be accountable to their taxpayers if they can’t do what he [ambassador] did? So those revelations are regrettable and very sad. Extremely sad that leaders can be playing with people’s lives who have got their own portfolio function,” Kampyongo said, and asked what role an advisor to the President had to do with medical purchases and hoping the calls where no ebout who to give contracts to and not to.
“Because in using the authority from above, people end up doing wrong things and making those that have got special duties to perform, like Mr Nyasulu is saying, to do wrong things,” Kampyongo said. “Because what you are (saying) is that he couldn’t make independent decisions. He would be influenced to make decisions of procurement. So those decisions are what becomes breeding ground for corruption.”
Kampyongo said it was in times like these that the hypocrisy of politicians was exposed.
He wondered why a minister would start to insinuate, as Nyasulu asserted against former health minister Sylvia Masebo, that some suppliers should not be given business on account of them being suspected to be PF sympathisers.
Kampyongo said Masebo herself had served in the governments starting from MMD, PF and was now in UPND.
“So how does she expect businessmen not to outlive successive opposition, successive parties in government?” he asked. “If (she) has been surviving like that, one party to another, in government, so people who are in government who shouldn’t even be aligned to political circles, why should they be slowed to do business like any other citizens?”
Asked if the revelation from Nyasulu was a matter the that law enforcement agencies should take interest in, Kampyongo said the assertions sent a gloomy picture about public procurement.
Kampyongo said not too long ago someone said if one had to supply to the mines, they were supposed to be known by those in Lusaka in bigger offices.
“So it goes to show you how probably corruption has been institutionalised because people are using their positions to influence certain decisions,” he said.
Kampyongo said if names were popping up, it would not do to go for small fishes like Nyasulu, as it was time for the nation to see which bigger fishes were involved.
“If these bigger fishes cannot be punished, it would just be window dressing, anything that will be said about all the forensic audit, it will just be window dressing,” said Kampyongo.
