Government has with immediate effect cancelled the tender on the supply, delivery and commissioning of the National Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting System in Zambia.
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services Permanent Secretary, Emmanuel Mwamba, said the cancellation is in line with advice his ministry received from the Zambia Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA).
Mr Mwamba said the ZPPA recommended for a review and cancellation of the tender in accordance with regulations 176 of the Public Procurement Regulations of 2011 following appeals by two of the unsuccessful bidders.
According to a letter dated 13th September and addressed to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services, ZPPA Director Davies Chisenda, recommended for the cancellation of the tender due to non responsiveness in accordance with regulation 24(1) of the Public Procurement regulations.
Mr Mwamba, however, said government will now consider unbundling the tender into four slots which include civil works, studio, network and consultancy services than merging it as one as it was done in the previous tender.
He said the unbundling of the tender will make it easier to manage the tender process more efficiently and effectively in terms of technical capabilities of bidders.
Mr Mwamba added that unbundling tender will enable the country meet the June 2015 deadline set by the United Nations International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for countries to migrate from analogue to digital television broadcasting.
He said despite the delay in the implementation process, government will remain focused to meet the deadline to migrate from analogue to digital televisions broadcasting as prescribed by the ITU.
Mr Mwamba assured the nation that the new tender procurement proceedings will be expedited by using the most efficient procurement method in line with the public procurement act.
Speaking at a press briefing in Lusaka today, Mr Mwamba said his ministry will ensure the policy on digital migration is quickly approved by cabinet to guide in the implementation of the whole process.
And Mr Mwamba has announced the appointment of Zambia Daily Mail Managing Director, Isaac Chipampe, as the new Director of the newly created Department of Press and Media Development in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services.
Mr Mwamba said Zambia Daily Mail Deputy Managing Director, Anthony Mukwita, will now act as Managing Director with immediate effect.
Meanwhile, Mr Mwamba has called on Heads of Media Institutions to immediately depoliticise the newsrooms in the public media institutions to enable the editorial staff to work as professionals.
Mr Mwamba has also with immediate effect directed all public media institutions to ensure that there are no personal-to-holder reporters attached to certain government ministers in terms of news coverage.
One day in office and you hve opnened ZWD that Malupenga had shut down. Anyway….!
NDALAMA ZISEBENZA KA , MWAMBA AWONEKA BWINO,TEABONE TEABONE KULUKOBO,
Love what am reading. MuMmembe loopholes from where he had planted to benefit bribes, are being sealed one at a time. Arrest Malupenga if found wanting as well.
Good move for Isaac Chipampe, he’s being quite a lousy MD, I second his demotion. Hope we bring a complete new head there.
ZWD was consistent in its reporting that this transaction was marred with controversy if not corruption. Lets see how this puns out……
Iwe Mwamba, what’s the rush with tenders kanshi? Does it make sense to go to tender when government has not yet approved the Digital Migration Policy? Doesn’t this policy have a bearing on the specification of the technology? You’re now busy unbundling the tender and readvertising it while you push for Cabinet approval of the Digital Migration Policy, but what happens if Cabinet disapproves the whole or some aspects of the draft policy AFTER you’ve already awarded the tender to those friends of yours that you’re lining up?
Don take more than what you can swallow. BE careful with your govt.
Ndipo chayina chamene ichi ka? Anyway continue eating vi hotel food and you will be like GBM soon
Under RB no cancelation of improprietly contracted supliers.Ask Dolar publicly defended tht she is smart & trnsfered to another minstry..Yet tribunal found her with case to answer.Atleast Pf has shown gud example.Fight Pf & go ahead.
@Dada, were you sleeping when the tribunal and findings that cleared Dora under PF were handed to Sata by Sebastian Zulu, the then Justice minister before Kabimba? That report found nothing untoward against Dora and that is why Seba Zulu lost his job as he didnt deliver as PF wanted. We know PF has it for Dora.
Welcome ba …
Tender cancelled as PF cadres were NO i line to benefit. Brace for the awarding of the unbundled contracts to party cadres now.
Welcome to lusaka ps dont forget to go to church i mean your church secondly forgive the mphande girl thirdly remove chibamc and maduma from znbc we want non partisan reporting and equal time to all political players not just reporting biased news like chibamba and ken are doing.
Good news as Amos was going to eat big time from this deal!
The M’membe cartel is being dismantled…
I am at a loss, can any one tell me what qualifications are needed for one to be considered for the post of Permanent Secretary – in a Ministry? I guess at Provincial level its all political.
Hope your hands are clean on this move Malupanga.$1m in Hong Kong?
Anyone who fights corruption has my support, regardless of which camp he belongs to.
PS Mwamba should be supported as long as he doesn’t fall in the same trap.
If Amos had dipped his hands in the ‘deep’ and its proven, he must be caged ASAP!
Just a few questions:
1. Chipampe is NOT a civil servant, how come he is taken to the civil service [only the president can do that]?
2. Chipampe’s salary at the Zambia Daily Mail is higher than that of PS E. Mwamba. Is Chipampe taking his salary to the civil service? If he does, he will be the SUPER director at the Ministry and in all govt!!!
3. Is the new post Chipampe going to occupy (with immediate effect) approved and financed by parliament? Is this post on the ministerial establishment?
As for the corrupt, FAT and slow Amos Malupenga, he deserves to be FIRED and arrested over this digital migration deal.
To Emmanuel Mwamba I say: Check if the IBA is ‘manned’ by the best brains that Zambia has in that field. If not, then do something about those Malupenga CARTEL members…
Interesting developments
I smell Malupenga and Mmembe in this saga. Ba Mwamba,You did the nation a big favour by cancelling the tender.I feel we are moving forward and thumbs up on this one and ka increment.
He has just arrived in the Ministry and he is already creating positions for his relatives. Please stop raping our public institutions. So two losing tender bidders complained to Mwamba immediately he was appointed. If there was anything wrong with the bidding process they should have reported to the ACC. One wonders whether they would have complained if the new Permanent Secretary was someone else other than Mwamba. This whole move smells of corruption! Please always expose acts of corruption when they happen instead of waiting for your friend to be in office!
Please read carefully before commenting. The appeals were made to ZPPA who then wrote to the PS’s office BEFORE Mwamba. Mwamba simply acted on their recommendations, as the Law says he should. Stop hanging the wrong man…
So why is the culprit not been charged? Is it Malupenga? Then lets see him taken to court! Honestly this is not the way to fight corruption! Lets have the culprits identified!
My guess would be that an investigation is still being carried out. Isn’t the report from ZPPA then taken to ACC? There is procedure which has to be followed and I’d rather its done right than hasty public trials which end in a nolle prosqui…
Who can cencel those RDA tenders issued from state house?
So the Zambian Watchdog was right all this while about this corrupt deal?
cancelling the tender is just a smokescreen, mwamba and malupenga are at each others throats for other reasons. sooner than later malupenga will expose mwamba’s dealings in western province. copy that.
Everyone comes in with his foolish ideas.Do you mean you all don’t understand the tender procurement procedures? who gave you these jobs which you don’t even understand to go by them.’they were irregularities’ says mwamba.next time it will be your company to win part of the rebundled tender.tiza kuona bwanji ise bantu?DPMD is a puppet job offered to chipampe which should be looked at nicely.