The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) has uncovered a K925 million corruption ploy to defraud the Zambian Government through the Road Development Agency (RDA) by ,Shachitari Construction ,a road contractor in Eastern Province.
The Commission has since instituted investigations against the owner of Shachitari [quote]Construction and officials at the Road Development Agency Provincial Office in Chipata.
Public Relations Manager Timothy Moono who confirmed development to ZANIS in Lusaka today said Shachitari Construction was awarded a contract for graveling, drainage works, road signs, and vegetation control on the Chama-Mwanya-Kazembe Road at a contract sum of K4 billion.
He said preliminary investigations have revealed that a total amount of K487 million was paid to the contractor for mobilization of equipment and vegetation control for the first interim certificate.
Mr. Moono said investigations have established that these works were incomplete although this payment was made.
Further, investigations have revealed that a second attempt to claim for K925 million was made by the contractor with a certificate of completion being signed for by RDA Engineers in Chipata for works covering drainage, road signs and mobilization. Fake pictures from another road were used to back up the claim.
The Commission has since recorded warn and caution statements from the suspects who are soon to be charged.
ZANIS
Thank you ACC for a job well done.
Bloggers, see you!! Naizanda ine. Need to sort out this issue! Elo lwanya!
Well things are happening in Zambia. It looks like government coffers have become a play ground for Zambian contractors. How do you have the audacity to take fake pictures and go and claim k 900 million for the work you never did. By the way 900 m Zambia kwacha = US$171 900. That is a lot of money by any stretch of imagination and to get it for work not done. Am amazed beyond belief. And you call yourself a businessman? How do these guys sleep without feeling guilty. Has our society become that evil. Am speechless
Zambia is rotten to the bone marrow
When contracts are given to foreigners we complain mwefipuba. You want to get rich without sweat. You have no compassion for the suffering majority in Zambia.
It is very sad to here how our GRZ cofers are being looted. i wish there was a quickest way to punish such nonentities!
I thought RDA was inspecting the completion of road works before anyone could claim for payment … the taking of pictures shows that the antagonists know that RDA does not always depend on actual inspections but pictures (surely is this normal or professiona?). ANd the RDA engineer – hope he gets the discipline this goes with if he truly signed for incomplete works.
middle management thieves bafi color
justice need to be done to see if the ACC is working if they are not corrupt themselve. some are coplaining GLOBAL crisis some are enjoy life suppose to be fair.ACC thanks for the job well done. Punish the guilty
A new scandal each day! I wonder where Zambia is heading to?
You see mwebantu. We have a problem in this country. When contracts are given to foreigners, we complain of not being considered. When we are given the contracts, what do we do, we start by first buying hammers, lexuses, benz, you name it, before we do the work.
The other problem is with the people in authority, the sums of money we are talking about are so huge that not a single person can manage to swindle government. These guys work with people who are already in the government system. The same people have been making noise that former President Chiluba has stolen money from this country, are they any better? Shame.
One thing I would like to know is, for some time, the New Deal had been waging ‘a war against corruption’ , the Best Home Lodge owned by the Govt official has been in existence for at least 2 years (I have been there), was it conviniently being left off the Radar of this seriuos war?
but how is control loosed up in govt such that it always has to take the ACC discover money is being stolen? what does the managers and accountants and auditors do? where are the engineers to inspect the works? imwe bantu, u are playing with tax payers money. what a shame on govt!
No wonder Zambia wasn’t going anywhere all along, because such things were never followed up. I am impressed really…..
#11 Kibakiman. The ACC under LPM was selective in investigations. It was whether you were with him or not. What I see now is that people have become careless that they are stealing openly because they dont see a serious fight against corruption by the new regime. I only hope the ACC wont be interfered with for stepping on some sensitive toes.
So now we can see that it is not only neo-colonialism or imperialism that is killing our beautiful country and Black Africa as a whole but to a greater and significant extent it is corruption and hopless, visioness leaders like our unwise, super dull, full of damn sh*t ideas RB. Wonder where the wiseness from the East is. shame on us Africans. Africa twasebana.
Scandal upon scandal! Fasten your sit belts; there is more to come!! Diasporians very busy working hard while some chaps back home “making” easy money and “getting rich” quick. Easy come easy go; let them rot in hell! Well done ACC and hope you will get the support to prosecute and nail the looters. Buggers!!
RB whats your stance on such developments. Its like the your government has just approved one thing if you have noticed,” increase in theft of some public funds by some characters” please once you identify them issue out a stiff punishment so as to threaten others.
Well done ACC. The works done by ACC must be commended by all. But these efforts can be revised if no compliment is received from all arms of government. Once these scams are handed over to court, the prosecution must apply their minds to secure indictments. Courts must be vigilant not to allow plumbers buy time in court. It is true that justice delayed is justice denied. As long as plunders remain on the street then we can say we are robbed of justice. Unveiling scams like these can be nothing if no indictments are secured by the courts. If anything it is costing the country more to peruse cases that are not disposed off on time. The executive too must been as pushing for enactment of laws that speed up justice delivery. Only then can we say we are getting there.
This is what need to be done, but the legal system is the next to clean up…for the lawyers this is just business…even the gulity have to be represented, and they are the ones witrh the money unlike poor govt prosecutors…the Ministry of Health K10Bn scandal should have had the president’s comment or concern voiced – because even the minister, deputy and PS all knew about it, you can lose the budget and not notice…the RDA scandal needs a quick justice system…just sentence and grab all they stole/own…no lawyers
Everyday you have to read about scandals. That country is sick!
RBs government ni sangwapo.These contractors know that even when they lie,they will get away with it.RBs government is full of liars hence RBs acknowledgment at some point that he is the most lied to person in the country.But guys also have morals.how do you get money for the work you never did?
RB you are sleeping on the job. Too much traveling. Govt is falling apart.
Zambians we should look at ourselves long and hard in the mirror.Plundering of coffers e.g Best home lodge was before R.B, lets not use the man as an excuse for a society that thrives on deceit and nchekelako behaviour, name and shame the *****s introduce whistle blower incentives for people who tell the truth. Shine on Zambia theres light at the end of the tunnel.
how do you steal all these monies. mwe MBW.A MWE
BAR CALL LWE. IF IN YO.
is it a local contractor? looks like we’re getting a raw deal either way…locals want to steal from their own country,..give it to a foreign contractor (typically chinese these days) and we get shoddy work like the chirundu road..
It’s so sad that the majority of such men are never caught.
#21 yashani natiwshiba this is not good news but please tone down.The culprits will be brought to book.
#19 zed
I personally think that its because of sentiments expressed by you and others, the tendancy to alwys put blame on the president that these things happen. When all of this was happening under other governments no one bothered even under the much glorifyied Levy these are his products. I for one would not criticis RB at the moment but will do so should he fail to act on what is being brought to light. I would actually say there is some transparency to this gov compared to the others, a lot more than just FTJ and the gang are being found out and for me they are the ones that do the most damage as they rob us in dudunswas “in small bits”
RB has been there a short time and he is still sleeping. The late Mwanawasa did not do a good job in monitoring Ministries because all these lodges were built in his time! And he took Vera who was plundering the country with her husband and gave her a ministerial position, what logic is that?
This is what LPM was preventing last time when he stoppped giving contracts to zambian companies, The zambians companies instead of taking advantage of being zambian and do the right work they want always to steal and not do the work.LPM started only to give foreign companies like RAUBEX,CHINAHEN etc beacuse they do a good quality job, opther might augue wiuth Chinahen but its diefinately better than zambia. If only Zambian companies can change their mentality then we will be progressing.
Greetings #14 Mumbi Mwana my bululu, I am listening to your every word. That is exactly what I have alluded to from the time I joined LT we have been hurt as a nation and Africa as a whole more so by our own than the colonisers ever did. You ask where the wisdom from the east is? We are here my friend working with all our other bululus from the Zambian campass. To all do not be sad about the revelations you are seeing, it is part of transparent democracy, others among the 54 African countries and tonnes in the world do not have this. It means our system is kicking into life. Imagine what was taken under KK and Chiluba when transparency was filled in with darkness Ngati Nfinzi ya Vula ……………………………..let us be thankful but always vigilant. As always to God be the Glory.
RDA???? hhhhmmmm there is more there! All this stealing will be greatly reduced if we decentalised. Our central way of controlling things are partly to blame for this mess coz the local people dont even know the cost of the shoddy jobs being done in their localities.
No 29 I agree with decentralisation. On point.
Just wondering; what sort of Country do these dirt characters dream of leaving to their children and grand children? You would think, as Zambians, we are just as mindful as other cultures are about the kind of legacy we want to leave for our posterity. Great nations and cultures have pride themselves in building world-class infrastructure, social and political systems that would stand the test time for future generations. People go to war, to kill and be killed, over their children’s and grand children’s futures. But it seems, in Zambia, greed and abysmal sense of duty and responsibility to Country and one another has made a lot of people lose their moral compass. With this “get rich quick” mentality by nearly everyone who has a chance to get their “long fingers” on some…
continued from #31 ….on some public funds, it wouldn’t be surprising if battles of poverty, disease, ignorance, underdevelopment, illiteracy, etc, are still being fought centuries from now. What a shame!
#31
to answer part of your question on what kind of country these dirty charecters will leave for the children well most of them will not end up there they will be where you are in the USA. On top of that they never think they will get caught so they feel the children will have everything and carry on the family business. Its hard to see whats going on at the bottom when you are on top especially if you get there through dodgy means
RB, these so called officials are not afraid of you. Thats why they’re busy stealing tax payers money. Ba President please wake up and reduce on these holidays. So your muscles and the so called official will have some fear. For now, its a play ground indeed. How does an institution pay huge amounts of money for work that was never done. The so called engineers showing fake pictures are also involved. They must be fired!!!
The biggest kabwalala, Watson Ng’ambi was acquitted. Umbala ukalipo pa RDA as long as this man is free.
#37, I completely agree with you. It is sad though when thievery and dishonest can become so widely accepted as a way of doing business, both in government and private entities. Very sad indeed!!!
What a Shame to Zambian Contractors. Abanenu balebomba imwe mule kopa ama photo ya inchito sha bo.
#5 You have taken the words right out of my mouth. Zambians do not like work. They have developed a culture of thieving as a normal way of life. The country is full of people who call themselves Christians and yet they are the worst human beings Zambia has the misfortune to have as its citizens. I guess they are only following in the foot steps of their political masters.
According to The Post, Shikapwasha has endorsed the violence by MMD cadres on journalists and on the opposition, saying they (The Post and opposition) are reaping what they sowed. This is the sort of country we are building – full of criminality! What a shame!
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