By Patson Chilemba
Former secretary to the Cabinet Dr Simon Miti says he does not recall pushing Dr Mbita Chita and the Zesco heads to accept the US$392 Huawei deal and neither does he recall persuading former president Lungu to fire the former Zesco board chairman because he was making the bureaucrats work of micromanaging Zesco difficult.
Called by Daily Revelation to respond to assertions against him by Dr Chitala in his book Corporate Capture, the Political Economy of Electricity Management in Zambia 2014-2021, (How Not to Manage a State Enterprise), first obtained by Daily Revelation upon its publication, that he persuaded president Lungu to fire Dr Chitala, Dr Miti said: “I am in a meeting, but I can’t recall that. I am in a meeting. I can’t recall anything like that.”
Dr Chitala stated that one of the most unacceptable conduct when he served as Zesco board chairman was the attempt by the various government bureaucrats to assert strip Zesco, which in the end contributed in him partying ways with the company “to give them a free reign.”
He stated that the first attempt was made by the bureaucrats under “the so called Smart Zambia Institute (SZI)”, while the second attempt was made by the management of the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).
Dr Chitala stated that all sorts of individuals ranging from the secretary to the cabinet and politicians put pressure on Zesco and its staff to accept the Huawei project and sign the on-lent loan of USD 392 million and that the proponents for this were Huawei, Smart Zambia, the Secretary to the Cabinet then late Dr Msiska and later Dr Simon Miti and his deputy, former deputy Finance minister and Bank of Zambia Governor Patrick Mvunga and some officials from State House.
He stated that the pressure on the Zesco board and management was so much that he as chairman got concerned that some people could be hurt.
Asked to respond to Dr Chitala’s assertion that he was among those who were pushing for the asset stripping of Zesco, Dr Miti said: “I have never spoken to him. I have never spoken to him on that matter.”
But asked if he was aware of the deal Dr Chitala was referring to, Dr Miti hung up, but called a minute later.
“I think in summary what I can say is everything you are saying is very strange to me. I am in a meeting. It’s very strange, I have no idea about anything you have said. Okay! It’s very strange, I have no idea, okay! No idea, it’s very strange. I can’t remember anything of that sort. It’s very strange. It’s a very strange story,” said Dr Miti, who immediately hung up, curtailing further questions in the process.
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