By Maiko Zulu

The interrogation and reported the arrest of former Presidential Press Aide Amos Chanda has turned yet another bad page in President Edgar Lungu’s legacy. The proximity of serious crimes and bad governance to Mr Lungu’s Presidency should worry every concerned Zambian regardless of political party affiliation.

Amos Chanda was the closest person to the President, perhaps next to our mother Esther Lungu and the fact that DEC is on his case says a lot about what happens in the corridors of State House and government circles as a whole. Many people have insinuated that there is rampant abuse of authority of office among those in government and Chanda’s case just qualifies the fears.

People close to Mr Lungu have been reported to be consistently on the wrong side of moral leadership. Only recently my elder brother Kaizer Zulu was in the news not once, but several times. Whether the allegations against Kaizer are true or not is another thing but the fact that these allegations keep surfacing should be a cause for concern because Kaizer is not an ordinary citizen, he is the President’s, right-hand man. And he is not the only one.

Today Mr Lungu is on record opposing the Constitutional Court ruling over illegal use of government resources by Ministers during the 2016 campaigns. In a normal democracy, all those who won elections using illegal means should have had their seats nullified after the Con Court judgment. As a matter of principle, the President should be the first person to protect the integrity of the Judiciary.

We have the issue of Bill 10 which has deeply divided the country because of tyrannical clauses like the one allowing the Executive to acquire loans without the approval of Parliament. These are Mafia-like maneuvers and back door Constitutional amendments which the majority of Zambians are up against. Again, the President’s arrogant response to a question on Bill 10 during his press interaction points to further arm twisting of citizens abetted by the President.

Mr Lungu needs to begin to distance the Presidency from criminality and tyranny if he needs the support of Zambians. He cannot afford to be on the wrong side of morality and expect the country to rally behind his leadership. Zambians are maturing in political decisions making and politicians should not expect that business will be as usual.

As for Amos, I cannot pass any judgment on him because he has not been found guilty of any crimes, maybe not just yet. However, his case has subtracted from the people’s expectation of the State House and the Presidency.

On a positive note, it was good to see the President finally addressing the media and taking questions. Perhaps Issac Chipampe has brought some new thinking at State House.

State House Spokesman Amos Chanda has been granted police bond after he was formally arrested by Drug Enforcement Commission.

Mr Chanda has been charged with two counts of corruption and receiving property suspected to be proceeds of crime.

His lawyer Jonas Zimba of Makebi Zulu and Associates confirmed Mr Chanda’s arrest and subsequent bond release from Woodlands Police Station.

The ruling PF has described the decision by UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema to invite President Edgar Lungu for dialogue via Tweeter as disrespectful and disgusting.

This week, Mr Hichilema sent Tweet to Mr Lungu inviting him for dialogue in order to end political violence.

“We must do everything in our power to ensure we put an end to political violence and other ills affecting our nation. I hereby request @EdgarCLungu to come to the table and dialogue for the benefit of our country. I propose next week at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross,” he tweeted.

He added, “I am not concerned about swallowing my pride in pushing for amicable dialogue with @EdgarCLungu. It is our hope that he responds so that we can chart a new course that fosters peace and democracy. The Zambian people want it and we must make it happen.”

“I can’t stand to see this anymore. Enough is enough. This is completely unZambian. @EdgarCLungu, we must meet and fix it.”

But PF Deputy Media Director Antonio Mwanza says the invitation by Mr Hichilema is disrespectful.

Mr Mwanza said it is baffling to note that, Mr Hichilema, a man who aspires to ascend to become our Head of State can have such disdain and utter disregard for the Office of President.

“Who in his sane mind can tweet a Head of State for a meeting; not even President Edgar Lungu as the Republican President can tweet Mr Hichilema for a meeting,” Mr Mwanza said.

“This behaviour from Mr Hichilema only goes to show, that the man has no respect or regard for anyone or any institution; equally it shows that the man does not understand how the real world operates, he is green, and surely not ready for office; he needs time and help ti be tutored and oriented in state craft; most importantly it exposes his desperation, hypocrisy and infantile excitement with social media.”

“Whoever is handling him must take away those tweeter handles and save this man from further embarrassment,” he said.

“Coming to the issue of dialogue, it is important to put the record straight. It is hypocritical and honestly speaking, embarrassing that Mr Hichilema can today be talking about dialogue when he has always refused and boycotted every platform that has been proposed for him to dialogue.”

Muvi Television Owner Steven Nyirenda is the new opposition National Restoration Party Leader.

This was after the other candidate Maybin Kabwe withdrew his candidature for the role of Presidency at today’s NAREP extraordinary convention.

Mr. Nyirenda takes over from Founder and first NAREP Leader Elias Chipimo Jnr, who stepped down a few months ago.

In his inauguration speech, Mr Nyirenda said he will not allow Zambia to be governed by a foreigner.

He has promised to amplify the values of the NAREP in order to grow the party.

Mr. Nyirenda added that the Patriotic Front administration has no vision to propel Zambia’s development in all sectors of economy.

He said he has a plan that can sort out the current electricity rationing within eights months.

Mr Nyirenda boasted that NAREP will form the next government in 2021.

By Media Editor, Barotseland Post

National Democratic Congress (NDC) leader, Chishimba Kambwili, has charged that the incoherence of statements over the pardoning of prisoners on the presidents birthday is proof that there is a chipante pante govt in place.

“It’s unfortunate that the other prisoner (Afumba Mombotwa) who has been left is being tortured because when you are informed that you are going to be pardoned by the President and later on you hear a minister say that ‘you have not been pardoned’, its torture of the worst kind, ” Chishimba Kambwili said.

On Monday, State House Press Aide Isaac Chipampe announced in a statement that the President had pardoned 5 prisoners from various correctional facilities to mark his 63rd birthday.

“To mark His 63rd Birthday which falls today, His Excellency Dr Edgar Chagwa Lungu has pardoned five inmates from various correctional facilities. The President has pardoned Chief Mulongwe, Former Minister in the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) Government Maxwell Mwale, Journalist Derrick Sinjela, Afumba Mombofwa, and former Zambia Airforce Commander Christopher Singogo. The President’s action is in line with Article 97 of the Constitution of Zambia Chapter (l) of the Laws of Zambia which provides for Presidential Pardon and Substitution of Severe Punishments imposed on the convicted,” the statement read.

But later the same day, Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo during a press briefing announced only 4 names leaving out Mombofwa, and when asked, the minister said his statement superseded the earlier statement issued by State House.

“The list I have given is the final official list and I am sure you are aware, over the years you have come here yourself as a senior journalist any pardons, are released in this manner just like I have done. That’s the official list that you should take. It’s signed by me here so if there was any other statement, maybe, it’s overtaken by this one that I have released,” said Kampyongo.

And in an interview, Kambwili noted that there was no consultation over the matter as a minister’s statement can never supersede that of the President.

“It is a sign of an uncoordinated government and if a government is uncoordinated it simply means they have failed to govern. I mean, its confusion of the worst kind that state house which is the Presidency, announces that we have pardoned 5 prisoners and the Minister of Home Affairs says ‘no we have only pardoned 4 and my statement supersedes the statement from state house’. Sure how can a ministers statement supersede the State House [statement] which is the Presidency because the minister operates under the President? This means there was no consultation and what kind of a government is this government which doesn’t consult. I have said and I want to say it again, this government is chipante pante government,” he charged.

“And you see, God the way he operates, he will not come and tell you that these people have failed, he will just bring calamity, mistakes that people must see that this government is tired and God is no longer interested in them and that the favour of God has moved away from them. This is what is happening, in my language they say Lesa nga alefwaya uku fumya umuntu pa chifulo, ala mu lowa ichilafi pa kutila fyonse ifyo alechita fibe ifya lubana (when God wants to remove someone from a position, He strikes him with forgetfulness to make mistakes). You can see that the person does not know what they are doing. This is what is happening.”

Kambwili, however, sympathized with the prisoner who has been left behind describing the act as a torture of the worst kind.

“It’s unfortunate that the other prisoner who has been left is being tortured because when you are informed that you are going to be pardoned by the President and later on you hear a minister say that ‘you have not been pardoned’, its torture of the worst kind. So we must think of others, do unto others what you want them to do unto you. So it’s quite unfortunate that we have a situation like this in our country coming from the government,” said Kambwili.

By: Anthony Bwalya

I write this, not as a member of the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND), but rather as an aspiring candidate for my home Constituency of #Kabushi at the next coming general election in 2021; as well as a concerned citizen deeply worried about the unimpeded, long-standing plunder and theft of public resources at the hands of public officers.

A few weeks ago, we had a high profile case in my local Constituency where staff at my local clinic at Lubuto were left to work under very difficult night conditions owing to the absence of alternative energy sources each time the health facility was loadshedded. It had to take a “donation” from the area Member of Parliament Bowman Chilosha Lusambo, apparently at the instruction of the PRESIDENT, for a Genset to be delivered to the facility.

Incidentally, Lubuto Clinic was just one among several other local health facilities with this problem.

Kabushi Constituency also has a number of critical roads that have not been worked on for a very long time, and with the advent of the rains, will become a real challenge for our people to navigate; which will make doing business a chore for our people.

The reason for all these Constituency challenges is that the national fiscal space is thin, with nearly 91% of it now taken up by a combination of debt service repayments and public sector emoluments.

But, it is the public sector emoluments component that concerns me the most, because even at political party level, the UPND believes Zambia can and should be able to achieve a public sector wage bill of 30% – 35% of our total fiscal space. Yet, these expectations are constantly threatened by the unscrupulous, unchecked, undeterred corrupt and pure thieving activities from within the civil service.

My contention is that with the right kind of public sector management systems anchored on enhanced accountability, there would be enough money to go towards actual community development activities in places like #Kabushi and many others across our vast country.

Public sector payroll scandal is a multidimensional problem that involves a lot of people across the public sector, and this scam has been going on for many, many years. The problem has also evidently been exacerbated by multi system failures in the manner the public sector handles recruitment, deployment, personnel monitoring, payroll management; as well as there not being present the right tone at the top of the highest level of government.

What is most worrying is that the same people who have been at the center of either perpetrating this evil, or at the heart of a failure to manage public systems to protect public reaources, are now the same people telling the Republican PRESIDENT that they will fix the rot.

It will not work.

For them, it will be all about burying the skeletons and covering up for each other so that accountability on their part is never attained.

The public must reject that.

To get to the bottom of this issue, an independent public inquiry is needed in order to completely lift the lid off this dirty scam. We need to know how this has been possible, how long it’s been going on for, who has been involved, what the current systems weaknesses are, control environment remedies and how we shall recover these stolen resources promptly.

Some of the fundamental questions we need answers to are:

1. How does PSMD account for deceased employees to ensure that these are promptly taken off payroll? Who ensures that this is done and how do they evidence it?

2. How does PSMD account for transfers and ensure that payroll stations are timely changed for employees? Who ensures that there is no duplication of payroll lines for transferred employees across multiple stations and how do they ascertain this?

3. How does PSMD account for new recruits and ensure that these are actually promptly put on payroll and that they actually start receiving their salaries on time? We have had numerous instances where new recruits – nurses, doctors, teachers, have been assigned work stations, placed on payroll and yet they do not start receiving their salaries and other benefits for several months after the commencement of their assignments. How does PSMD ensure that unscrupulous officers do not divert salaries meant for new recruits into their own personal and other ghost accounts?

4. How does PSMD manage payroll? How do HR personal account for every head on payroll and how do they evidence this? How is this payroll reviewed, what are they doing when reviewing this payroll and how are they evidencing this?

5. How does PSMD pick up duplicates and other irregularities in public sector payroll? Is there an inbuilt automatic system to flag irregularities off and how are these dealt with?

6. Who has the authority to create and change payroll accounts and what controls or checks exist to ensure that these individuals do not abuse their assigned authority?

7. Was there a specific failure of duty on the part of officers, both junior, middle management and Senior civil servants? Are we able to identify where this failure occured and how it occurred?

8. This problem appears to have been going on for more than 10 years. How did it happen that no one saw this, or could this have been a well designed thieving syndicate involving senior civil servants?

9. Is there a system in place specially for identifying ghost workers? If so, how does this system work? If not, why when we have known for a very time of the existence of this problem?

But after all these questions have been answered, PSMD needs to be given SMART performance objectives and targets which they must deliver without fail; or there must be a heavy price to pay by those in charge.

When over 60% of Zambians live beneath the margins of poverty, less than $1.25 per day, it is unfathomable that in a country that boasts of being mounted on Christian morality, such open season plunder, theft and abuse of public systems and resources can be permitted.

We need an independent, public inquiry to get to the bottom of this problem.

The Author is a Candidate for Kabushi 2021 and Member of the UPND.