The Patriots for Economic Progress has noted with sadness the increasing propensity of public institutions such as the Zambia Revenue Authority to donate taxpayers money to different causes including COVID-19.
Party President Sean Tembo says such actions, although outwardly charitable, constitute misappropriation of public funds and are in fact illegal as they contravene article 63(2)(b) of the Republican Constitution, which gives the sole mandate to appropriate public funds to the Parliament of Zambia and not any other institution or body.
Mr Tembo said enshrined by law, it must be noted that the duties of the Zambia Revenue Authority begin and end with collecting tax revenue on behalf of Government.
He said on the other hand, it is the duty of the treasury to submit a proposal to Parliament on how such taxpayers’ money should be spent. Such a proposal is normally referred to as a National Budget, and it is the duty of Parliament to adopt such a proposal as presented or to amend it.
Mr Tembo said therefore, the actions of the Zambia Revenue Authority to donate taxpayers money which they have collected, without remitting it through established channels, is not only illegal but also a source of confusion and anarchy.
He said by so doing, the Zambia Revenue Authority is usurping the powers of both the Treasury and Parliament, and such actions cannot go unchallenged.
Mr Tembo said if ZRA finds itself inundated with the urge to be charitable, they should ask their employees and Board Members to make contributions from their individual pockets, which can then be donated to different causes of their wish, including the fight against COVID-19.
He said it has become evident to Zambians that the tendency to donate what does not belong to oneself, among public institutions, is not limited to the Zambia Revenue Authority but cuts across various other public institutions.
Mr Tembo said most notable, the National Pension Scheme Authority has even institutionalized the illegality of donating pensioners’ money by establishing a football club, while at the same time failing to pay pensioners their retirement packages on time.
He said the reason why most public institutions end up deviating from their primary mandate and start spending public money on illegal activities, is primarily because of incompetence and in order to mask their poor performance in the discharge of their primary mandate, most public institutions end up engaging in illegal populist activities such as donating money that does not belong to them, in order to deviate attention from their perennial incompetence and poor performance.
Mr Tembo has noted that over time, this illegal behavior has become so rampant among public institutions that it has subsequently been embraced as “best practice” when in fact not.
He has since called on President Edgar Lungu to consider reforming his public institutions so that they can focus on the discharge of their respective primary mandates.
Spot on!
This is just wrong….I have said Chilufya is now taking advantage of this pandemic to line his pockets.
Evil man, I am sure he is supported by diasporans. Zra collects various revenue and not all of it constitutes tax payers money. If anything I doubt any real sane person would be against the use of funds to save lives, well apart from sadists in the diaspora and some well known angry opposition parties. Tembo just go sleep. You are tired. Kz
You think u can develop the country with the thinking of KZ sure???????????? when others are seeing Gold him he is seeing a stone. Lead the article very well and understand. And by the way, what is new job now since you where fired? becz I always see you here!
You think u can develop the country with the thinking of KZ sure???????????? when others are seeing Gold him he is seeing a stone. Read the article very well and understand. And by the way, what is new job now since you where fired? becz I always see you here!
This is like a leopard donating leopard skins. ZRA is not a profit making organisation and all taxes collected are sent to treasury, so how have they made this donation? Has Kingsley refused to get his bonus or fuel allowance for 6 months?
Only a clueless impostor can state without shame that public funds at the revenue office does not all belong to the taxpayer…its likened to a Municipal Water Utility Company saying not all water from that river belongs to the public. This is how twisted and rotten their mindset is..I would have said PF but the impostor is just that no principles no ethics no code no affiliation ..just a silly impersonator.
ZRA cannot collect tax if the country is locked down .
Therefore its in the interest of ZRA to have a flourishing business environment to be able to fullfill its mandate.
Corporate social responsibility in the fight against this pandemic has been extended by many organizations including NAPSA , banks etc
So please there is nothing wrong with ZRA donating something.
We saw this with Vincent Mwale at Local Government after PF torched Soweto Market… PF is very efficient at donations Miles Sampa’s LCC office is practically a charity. Mind you Vincent Mwale never even came back to give account…to date that market is still not finished. This is why I pray the pandemic passes quickly in Zambia as there will not be any money to fight as Chilufya will steal everything with his sticky fingers like he is helping himself with Jack Ma’s donated face masks.
These people are shameless crooks….they have nothing to fear as their boss is inept as they come!!
ZRA is not a donor but a collector, why should ZRA donate when the very government it is collecting on behalf has no enough resources!? Simply Kingsley Chanda has teamed up Chilufya Chitalu to steal the money. Sean Tembo us right. That’s PF for you.
Kaizar Zulu what problem do you have with the diaspora? Zambians are Zambians no matter where ever they are. Debate issues of importance and not trivial arguments. Sean Tembo has stated important facts. None of the opposition parties have even condemned these acts of various parastatals of illegally donated tax payers money.
Patriotic Zambian ….. – Do you even know what Corporate social responsibility (CSR) its not mandatory…ZRA will collect taxes that’s their job and NAPSA money is not for today but for your retirement ..what is wrong with you people??
I beg to disagree with you on this one, NAPSA generate income on investments of retirement funds. NAPSA has malls and houses as investments. ZRA is not an investment entity but a collecting entity on behalf of the government.
Sorry man, this comment was for patriotic Zambian!
Sean Tembo is right on this one. Not even trump could give money away without Congress writing up the bill, the amount and then debating to have it passed. In Zambia both the ruling PF, opposition UPND and independent MPs are languishing as parastatals illegally override their constitutional powers. Whether it’s a pandemic or emergency, parliamentarians need to be the ones authorizing this.
The only people complaining here are those who don’t live in Zambia, are not zambian anymore, do not pay a single tax in Zambia. And so have no right to even comment on this article in the first place. So when governments world over have gone into use or borrow money to offset effecte of this unprecedented virus, you think they have gone kneeling to non tax paying online bloggers to ask them for permission to save lives of their citizens? You are very dull most of you in diaspora. This is why yesterday I said that those zambian who genuinely go abroad for school normally return as they have papers. Those who are permanently there either lack legal immigration documents or educational qualifications and to save embarrassment are stuck in foreign land.kz
people in the diaspora would come back to Zambia if *****s like you were not in power
Nzelu – You should ignore the juvenile impostor and his childish rants he is just trolling …this is sick twisted small boy with too much time on his hands. There is zero substance in all he posts hence the anti-diaspora rants where he is based everything is a fraud to attract attention..if all fails he clones other bloggers accounts like an annoyed silly child who hasn’t had it his way. Grow up kiddo…you can fooool daft bloggers like Zambian Citizen but you ca not foooool everyone!!!
Madilu system – Yes The National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) generates income from its investments but those funds are not meant to be handed out …that is pension money for retirees people working now they are investing in it now.
Sorry man, I was to respond to patriotic Zambian, sorry my friend.
Mark my words ,this is just one way they will use to steal tax payers . You have got retired government workers who have not been paid their dues yet ZRA is donating money .There are systems in place to deals with channeling to natural calamities .Money from ZRA is not one of them one them .
Mark my words ,this is just one way they will use to steal trolley loads of tax payers cash and build more 48 houses without owners . We do have retired government workers at the moment who have not been paid their dues yet ZRA is donating money .There are systems in place to deal with channeling funds to natural calamities like covid 19 pandemic .Money from ZRA is not one them unless we have a broken system or do not have any at all .As a matter of fact the statistics they are giving Zambians does not warrant such actions .
Impressive comment by a blogger called organ, on another article:
Organ April 24, 2020 At 1:29 pm
Tayali took it upon himself to report Chishimba Kambwili to the police and eventually Kambwili is dancing pelete in court. This a chap as small Tayali. Why cant the mighty UPND with the lot of lawyers take even one case of corruption against PF and prosecute it in court? Why always just shouting from your offices? Take action like Tayali did on Kambwili
Koswe mumpoto.
The race to become the wealthiest via thievery.
This race will be won by someone in PF.
Imwe does covid 19 give a smelly d.i.c.k? I am worried ?
Sean Tembo is spot on! ZRA has no Legal mandate to distribute fiscal resources of Government, the People of Zambia, before they reach Government coffers and Appropriated by Parliament. The mandate to Allocate fiscal resources is a function of Parliament, The Legislature. ZRA is only A Government revenue Collection agency, that should Collect money as mandated by Parliament. They are merely a Tax Collection Agency. ZRA is not a Spending Agency of Government! The mandate to Collect and Spend by Government must be given by the Legislature.
The similar position with regards to spending obtains at NAPSA. NAPSA is a Statutory trust for Pensioners. All the moneys at NAPSA belong to its Members. Yes, NAPSA can receive Grants from Government, or receive Donations from other Sponsors, but has…
All money in parastatals such as ZRA, ZESCO, NAPSA, workman’s comp. Etc etc belong to the people of Zambia and its only the people of Zambia through parliament who are allowed to donate their money to whatever cause they see fit and not individuals running these organizations. This leaves a lot of room for misspplication. Just like ZRA decided to use the money to advertise in only in three newspapers which are all PF aligned which are daily mail, times and tricky dick sakala’s daily Nation. Why leaving out others like the mast and diggers. This is a clear example of why parastatals should not have this power to use public funds.
Wait a minute Zambians, is Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) an implementing agent now? How does this agent donate when it makes no profit, it is now a business by an agent of the Ministry of Finance. Where is our constitution in all these, this is illegality of the highest order. Put simply for more of kinds of K …Z… it is like a shop keep decides to donate to a church from the til and the shop own is okay with that. Really, where are our constitutional lawyers to serve this nation?
Makes sense, lots of sense. How can you donate monies that have been entrusted to you and not yours? May even be a conduit to siphon money into the PF campaign. Cant rule out , PF is
Similarly, I have always wondered who funds presidential donations, is it tax payers money or funds from business “friends”? It must be either of the above, because the president can’t that rich, looking at how much he has donated so far, must be running into billions of kwacha.
So where does it state in the article that ZRA has donated tax collections to Covid 19?
ZRA, like BOZ, UNZA, NAPSA are agencies of the government performing different functions for and on behalf of govt, effectively we the people of Zambia.
These Statutory institutions receive money from the treasury for operations. ZRA, collects taxes, pays that money to govt then receives operational funds from treasury.
Those operational funds can be legally donated at Corporate Social Responsibility without the institution consulting anyone.