One of the companies close to Mr. Mundia, ETG, was not shortlisted. But the vetting process has stalled because Mr. Mundia wants ETG to appear on the list of successful bidders.
By Zambian Whistleblower.
Lusaka, June 12 – It is sad to report to you that as a country, we may face delays again in the distribution of inputs under the Fertiliser Input Support Programme (FISP) due to interference from President Hakainde Hichilema’s Legal Advisor, Christopher Mundia, who has assumed the same influential role as that of former Political Advisor to President Edgar Lungu, Kaizer Zulu.
The information reaching our investigations desk is that the evaluation team for the tender to supply fertiliser sat for several days at Chaminuka Lodge in the outskirts of Lusaka to shortlist names of suppliers which they did.
Apparently, one of the companies close to Mr. Christopher Mundia ETG was not shortlisted because it had offered astronomical prices. The list of successful bidders was then forwarded to Law Enforcement Agencies for vetting.
We are reliably informed the list is stuck in the vetting process because Mr. Mundia has insisted ETG should appear on the list of successful bidders as such, we may not have an early distribution of fertiliser this season as promised by President Hakainde Hichilema.
Today is June 12. 2023 and the list of suppliers is still in contention. That is why we say the more things change, the more they remain the same.
If you thought grand corruption by government officials ended with the outcome of elections in 2021, you are in for a rude shock.
You will be surprised that the UPND government has even inherited some of the facilitators of corruption who worked with the PF government.
For example, at the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the UPND are using an illiterate fellow called Francis Mutale to extort K10,000 from companies seeking to be registered as suppliers to the Ministry.
Then upon being awarded supply contracts, the firms are being asked to hand through Mutale 10 percent of the contract sum in cash upfront, which is then distributed among his handlers in the UPND government and at the MoD.
One company that has just gone through this process called Brightcom Solutions, run by one Judy Kaunda, was recently awarded a K2.5 million contract.
Mutale is also working with another facilitator called Wassim who works for Armsecure. We are reliably informed that so far contracts worth more than K10 million have been handled through this group and commissions distributed among these corrupt elements.
There are also corrupt dealings at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) where claimants seeking payments are being asked to pick from a list of “friendly lawyers” if they want quick payments.
Solicitor General Marshal Muchende is said to be at the centre of this scheme, through which some lawyers have lost clients and fees, and are now up in arms.
Two of the law firms which have benefited from this scheme are Sam Okware and Overs Banda, which might soon be facing litigation from another law firm over a Ministry of Health client payment.
This form of corruption has become common in government institilutions including the Road Development Agency (RDA).
For example, the law firm owned by Home Affairs and Internal Security Minister, Jack Mwiimbu, and Chad Muleza were advised about their clients fast tracked payment whilst other contractors have their payments pending for close to two years because they are being “audited”.
Also Read: Single sourced $70m MoH contract reeks of corruption.
At RDA, corruption is being compounded by the confusion brought by Board Chairperson Yogesh Kuntawara who is being accused of over reaching and stretching his role to even sitting on the National Roads Fund Agency (NRFA) as a representative of the Truckers Association .
It is highly irregular for the board Chairperson of RDA to sit on another board in the road sector to represent an association.
All this confusion is calculated to create room for them to cancel existing contracts and award them to UPND supporters.
All this is just the tip of the Iceberg especially at the MoD food supply department.
We shall be giving you more details, names of companies, value of contracts and MoD officials involved.
About The Author: Zambian Whistleblower is a group of investigative journalists. You can follow it on You Tube, Twitter, Instagram, Telegram, Facebook and TikTok.
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