Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) Chairperson Justice Florence Mumba has invited the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) to investigate alleged reports of corruption at the commission.
Justice Mumba said this follows allegations that have been made against her by former Commission Director Dan Kalale.
Justice Mumba said the ACC should probe contracts relating to the supply of materials and services and the budgetary accountability for the tripartite and by elections.
In a statement issued on her behalf by Commission Secretary Eric Kamwi in Lusaka today, Justice Mumba said:
“Following aspersions made against the electoral commission of Zambia, the Chairperson has decided to invite the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to probe, among other things they may wish to investigate, the following:
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- Dates and mode of appointment of all staff, academic and professional qualifications; when and where obtained;
- All moveable property, chattels, when and how procured.”
- All motor vehicles, when and how procured and to whom assigned and at what times; maintenance records, insurance policies, garages used for repairs, fuel, and relevant contracts, where applicable;
- Budgetary accountability for tripartite elections and by-elections, etc,
- Contracts relating to the supply of materials and services and actual materials and services,”
On Sunday Mr. Kalale accused Justice Mumba of engaging in corrupt practices. Mr.Kalale said Justice Mumba and other commissioners irregularly singled sourced KPMG to undertake consultancy services on the confidential audit system review for ECZ the year 2008 to 2009 at a cost of one Billion Kwacha.
He said Justice Mumba and the commissioners did not refer the matter of engaging KPMG to the Zambia Public Procurement authority for authorisation.
Meanwhile the Leadership In Development has called on Justice Mumba to step aside, to pave way for investigations into the alleged corrupt activities at the commission.
Executive Director, Moses Kalonde says revelations of alleged corrupt activities at the commission are worrying; especially that it is an election year.
Mr Kalonde has also appealed to the investigation wings to quickly move in so that sanity is brought back to ECZ. He was speaking with ZNBC News in Lusaka today.
And the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions- ZCTU is concerned with events unfolding at the Electoral Commission of Zambia ECZ.
The ZCTU has since called on Government to quickly and thoroughly investigate recent developments at ECZ in order to restore confidence in the electoral process.
ZCTU Director of Public Relations Martin Chembe says developments at ECZ are impacting negatively on the institution.
Mr. Chembe says it is sad that such issues are occurring at a time when the country is preparing for elections.
He has advised Government to intervene before the situation gets out of hand.
Mr. Chembe also says the embarrassing situation at ECZ could have been avoided if the Commission had allowed workers to be represented by a trade union.
This is contained in a statement he has issued to ZNBC News in Lusaka today-Tuesday.
Earlier in the morning Evangelical Youth Alliance expressed saddened at the stand off between workers and commissioners at the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ).
Alliance Chairperson Moses Lungu said it was unfortunate that the impasse had emerged in an election year.
Reverend Lungu told ZNBC news in Lusaka that there is urgent need to resolve the problems at the commission, before full fledged election campaigns kick off.
He advised ECZ Chairperson Florence Mumba to step down to pave way for investigations into her alleged corrupt activities.
ZNBC
Mumba and Chuulu are wrong guys for the job. Chuulo was kicked out of ZIALE due to failing intelligent students that had infact passed. Mumbo is bossing herself over Dan the Director. Who was snr btwn the two anyway? Get rid of all the fake commisioners and allow an independent auditing firm. This might soon escalate into another FAZ saga. RB wake up and stop the rot immediately not later.
Ha ha ha we are watching us the silent observers through the global lenses.A lot of issues there.
ACC are the same crooks, they work together in dark corners, so nothing will come out of this so called investigation.
Justice Mumba how come you already know the ares that will be found wanting?
It appears both Mumba and Kalale suddenly want to report thing they have known for ages to ACC. Why now chaps?
I think ECZ is bigger than 2 individuals fighting. these 2 shud just step aside. ACC cannot be trusted because they are just career destroyers. One thing which stands out is the issue of qualifications for workers at ECZ. I know a guy there who never went beyond grade 12 but has a good position and is enjoying. This issue of qualifications shud be properly investigated to ensure people are enjoying the fruits of their sweat, not crookedly….
MMD has a hand in this scandle, how come all MMD NGO’S are in support of the chairperson stepping down? when serious matters happen, they keep quite. Kabonde is still at zp.
It’s not up to Florence Mumba to determine the points of reference here, no! This organisation has been pathetic for years now starting with the 2001 elections they so blatantly rigged for Levy when it was apparent Mazoka had won the polls. I alos believe Zondwe won the last two polls but Kalale and his Mumba rigged in favour of the ruling party candidates. For all I can see, Kalale is a dirty little bugger who has only spilled the beans because Mumba kicked him out, clear case of sour grapes. As for Mumba, you cannot appoint KPMG without following stipulated government tender procedure, its plain s’t’u’pi’dity and she should be nailed for this. God save us from these charlatans running our elections office.
why is mmd so excited about the whole issue..?
Justice Florence Mumba is an interntionally respected professional. Observations made by people like her must be taken seriously. One of the sad developments in our Country is a lack of respect for homegrown professionals. We have and continue trashing people who should know better. I would give Justice Mumba a chance to effect her plans. She has more to lose, professionally, if things go wrong.
To the others, there are no jobs for life. It is easy come easy go.
Mumba’s wedding was fnmenioal, well planned and organised, i was there personally to witness that, and just wanna say congrats my friend and all the best in your marriage. God bless both of you. Ctny
Kalale has been with ECZ for 20 years ,and this is when he has seen something wrong just after being fired.am sure now he can visit his girl friends with ease since he has all the sweet time.
Thats Zambia. Ask FTJ.
Slowly and surely the dirt that had been accumulated and hidden under the carpet at ECZ has finally started to to stink,one cannot hide rotten eggs for too long for the repugnant smell might knock one down,The whole ECZ has been a rotten institution for a long time.
The good lord surely works in mysterious ways,all those whole have stolen from God s people or shortchanged them will surely start to be exposed one by one,Tunisa has shown how to deal with leaders who have no respect for the people
But zed kwena really sucks, these mangwams what do they use when thinking? As a chairperson of the commission she has been there for sumtime now, does it have to take danny to spil sum little beans for you to invite ACC. The issues the learned justice cud really be pertinet, but where were you all this time. STUPID PARASITES, YOU MAKE ME SICK!!
Wapya munzi ta. titi for tati.you hit me once I hit you twice. Dany had no qualification for Director at ECZ. He is a grade twelve failure who rose through ranks. All the chaps with no papers are now panicking at ECZ. Justice Mumba will sweep them out one by one.Muleya kusukulu ba kapoli.
I hope the ACC will do a job!
GUY IS ACC STILL EXISTING? OR THE OFFICE FUNCTIONS IN SOME CASES AND NOT IN ALL CASES?
mmd wants kalale bcoz he their master rigger used by OP. Mumber u ar needed…Donchi kubeba
Drama drama..pa zed no shortage of drama from RB travels, to Mohan court case, to Mwamba drama, to Faz – Zurich -Simata, to Sata $100 sau, Mumbi – PF war, to Captain Solo release and forgiven by FTJ, to Chiluba’s wife aquital and eventually Chiluba winning back his assets, to UTH accounts scandal, to Mangani – Kabiji encounter, to Dick Jere $100, 000 and OP infor release, to ECZ Drama – Mumba mulale fight. All these at the expense of national development.
Had it been that kalale was not fired, will he be still with the same thought as today? If kalale was innocent the DEC< ACC would have already sandwiched Mumba. But now, for Mumba to fire Kalale, I think there is a boiling big bung.
#4 those are the reasons that led to dismissal and as a judge, trust me she knows what she is doing. The system in Zambia is slowly moving forward. This is the way forward. Well done Mama Mumba
Unfortunately there is no ACC in Zambia. Dan must never come back. He has been robbning us victory all along. Well done Justice Mumba. I hope justice will prevail. MMD, ZNBC, Times only support crooks and thieves like FTJ and Dan, they cant stand clean people like Justice Mumba.
Allow this lady to clean up ECZ. It has been a rotten institution
Before you go all out condemning the Judge by saying why did she not correct the situation earlier, by firing Kalele don’t you think it was her first step to address the rot? Considering that most of the staff seem to be unhappy with Kalele’s dismissal Im made to think their was alot of inappropriate behaviour in ECZ and Kalele was the ring leader. They know now that with him gone all the misappropriation of funds and corruption will be revealed. I bet Kalele’s real gripe with KPMG being called in to audit was not that procedure was not followed (even if that was indeed the case) but that the audit will reveal all the abuse by him and his cronies.
i have never liked that fcuker Kalale anyway. I’m sure there’s a lot justice Mumba knos but would rather they came out through professional investigation bodies.
I support mama Mumba,sweep clean that place failures are been paid well beyond other well qualified civil servants.
BaFlo balufye bwino. All the people against her have chewed money. All those media campaigns by ECZ, emotions baliila money bakapala. I will be surprised if Lupiya and Kunda follow the misguided opinion of the NGIs. Dan, Kalale, Priscilla Isaacs, Stanley Mathotho, Cris Akufuna, Sylvia Bwalya, Chilekwa bonse chessy. Lupiya, lusten to the voice of reason for once.
Noww the MMD wants to sell schools and colleges Nikwisa tuleola mwebanthu??
She is panicking, she thought she will pull a fast one. So if she fires everyone, will she then start working at ECZ full-time alone. She shouldnt have involved herself with executive functions like choosing auditors, its clearly not her job.
What a corrupt woman, by the way does anyone have a list of the countries where she has a good reputation, if any.
#27, I think choosing Auditors is not an executive function per se, and you have to understand that ECZ Chairpersonship is a bit different from the usual which are not full-time. ECZ chair is full-time, with some level of executive over sight on Chief Executive post of Director. The Board is in order to choose Auditors, but then that gets executed by management
#29, The board ( not Mumba) would be ok to do that it cost less than 0.4 billion. Anything over and beyond that amount goes through the tender board. Its bad enough for the board and worse for an individual, no matter how overated they are.
Just went through an independent audit for the financial year 2009 were I work. Total cost $35,0000. Yes, just about K164,500,000.00 (at K4700 per US$). My question is how far back is this audit? Is madam Justice justifying an audit at $212,765 for a single financial year? Kwena muleba!!!!!
Where is the able Auditor General?
Pa Zed
#31 Yangu, a normal audit for an institution as big ECZ would cost between U$10,000 – $15,000. They have less than 10 offices and less than 500 employees. That $200,000 as per Judge Mumba, only a dull director/chairman can approve that. She should be arrested on intentions of robbing Zambian tax payers.
Lots of irrational, ill-informed comments here. Think a little about the following:
1. Pro MMD NGOs (government owned NGOs) are asking Judge Mumba to step aside
2. Judge Mumba may not have followed procurement procedures, but one needs to ask what was the motive? Clearly, she knew things were wrong in the Commission and wanted an independent audit.
3. Without knowing the full scope of the audit we can’t claim that the cost was excessive. What type of audit was it? Granted, it may have been expensive, we don’t have the details.
4. The more important question that people are not raising, is what did the audit reveal?
5. There are a number of government institutions that have been audited at costs more than the figure people are complaining about? Could it be that a lot more…
a lot more money was lost through dubious deals? Procurement of services and products over the years?
6. Ask who owns the transport companies carrying election day materials? Have people declared interest? Could this be what staff are calling intimidation?
7. What does it say about the OAGs annual audit if nothing was captured over the years, and yet a specialised audit potential findings some issues?
8. By providing the ACC with areas of investigation, the Chairperson is pointing them were the dirt is. Half the work is already done.
9. Perhaps the Chairperson is not innocent, but I would take her word any day. Think carefully before you slate her. She may be battling to save the little decency the Commission has…
Dont you all realize that, ECZ.. is not a government institution? It is autonomous for the sake of not being biased of a sitting government, therefore ECZ has the Jurisdiction of choosing a reputable Auditing firm such as KPMG without needing a tender, where as a parastatal requires one ( ECZ is NOT a parastatal!!) . The Auditor General has no powers over ECZ, not even the President has any power over ECZ. The institution was established by an INDEPENDENT act of parliament, government and the AG office has no powers over it. Thank you.
Bembas ,bembas ,bembas at it again N WAY NO COMMENT
#35-36… you proove valid points! Well done, excellent observation! By the way one question NO ONE is asking is….. whats KPMG’s comment on this?
#37, so why did Kalale get advice from the auditor general if there is no relationship at all betweeen the two intsitutions. The auditor general promptly rubbished Mumbas tender…..why didnt she remind Kalale that she had no jurisdiction then.
Careful what you ask for. You just might get it! I remember a time when KK used to fire his ministers for accepting a deep freezer from our Asian shopkeepers as a bribe. Today it is considered normal by the president and his government for civil sevants to receive billions in the course of coduncting their civil servant duties! Blood money!!
Dont know who to trust. Judge mumba was chairman of electral team when Paul Tembo was robbed of votes at MMD cnvention. Chifumu banda resigned from taking part in running those polls. Kalale cant be trusted. Try Vj or form another ECZ like Simataa.
Honestly dont trust trust kalale & mumba. Just needed men & women with zambia at heart. Wish could go to zurich.
Talking about corruption at ECZ, we need the able Auditor-General to go and also audit the ACC, ZESCO and State House. We must not be pushed into becoming Tunisia when people still dream that our country can become a better nation without spilling blood in order to change leadership.
There is need to restructure the whole commission without the crooked mmd having an upper hand otherwise everything done to it to solve this problem is futile.
From the look of thing none of thes guys have clean hands,,after being being fired thats when kalale deicides to report his boss to ACC..and then the boss also invites ACC to investigate Kalale the question is where was she all these years? so in summary both Mumba and Kalale must go!
The only logical explaination on this issue is that, as Chairperson, Justice Mumba was kept in the dark on the corruption by Danny Kalale, the Executive Director, who was executing and implementing the ECZ Programs. As a controlling officer, he made sure he polarised all his surbordinates through bribes, so that they are not loyal to the Chairperson. When Danny realised she was catching up with his dirty practices, he picked the KPMG issue as survival insurance. He knows he has support from MMD he’s been rigging for many times. His presence is critical in this years elections for MMD, now it’s under threat together with his ECZ rigging agents. MMD wants to find a way to get rid of her. I won’t be surprised if she is fired. It was Tunisia, now it’s Egypt, next it’ll Zambia, if we’ve…
It was Tunisia first, now it’s Egypt, next it’ll be Zambia, that is if we have the BALLS to stand for justice. Remember, COURAGE IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF FEAR, BUT THE ABILITY TO STAND UP FOR THE TRUTH EVEN IN THE PRESENCE OF FEAR.
They are now privatising Schools, then all teachers will be employed by the infesters who will be casualising them, whipping them when they report late, pay them peanuts, etc, my goodness, how far are they prepared to go with this privatisation? It won’t be very long if MMD continues before we have a country run by infesters, as the economy, social services will be in private hands. Will we survive? Already, education is difficult for most families to pay for, what more when they privatise. We are headed for doom if we don’t stand up to protect this country.
#47, Good theory on the whole issue of things at ECZ.
acc perform your duties perfectly especially on qualifification
With the way laws are applied in Zambia nothing is going to happen judge fm and director kalale belong to the groupe of rich civil servants they are not like the guys at ministry of health.so people forget about this issue you can see RB is quit
what pipo must know is that to a huge amount of money spent on general elections and by elections is not a simple matter.Not even the Auditor General can do.To audit one presidential election and generel election are many issues.Ballot papers are printed outside the country.To and audit outisde the country you need to huge amount of money.Think about lawyers who presecuted Chiluba’s case in London how much did they spent.Election are held in the 72 districts now think about it before you condenm Justice Mumba.
We all dont know what is happenning at ECZ the best is For justice Mumba to go on leave to pave way for investigations. we cant really speculate who is right and wrong on this matter as at now.
All of you shut up and listen to Voice of Reason. His questions beg an asnwer and are as follows:
1. WHAT IS KPMG SAYING ABOUT THIS BEING THE RENOWNED AUDIT FIRM THAT IT IS?
2. WHAT ARE THE FINDINGS OF KPMG BEFORE gullible CHAPS ARE HOOKED TO THIEVING KALALE’S ALLEGATIONS.
LOOK everyone knows how kalale has been stealing and has enriched himself and his cronies so before we crucify the honourable judge lets find out how much Kalale stolen himself??
Nooo Nalu..unless you dont know Kalale…by the way he lives along the same street as Fred Membe of the Post. His home is lavishly decorated and you dont even mention the interiors. I mean this Chap is stinking rich and we need to know how he came to be rich so that we can also learn some of the methods chaps like him use if they are honest. IF…. AND I REPEAT… IF HE HAS BEEN STEALING THE BUGGER SHOULD NOT LIVE TO SEE ANOTHER SUNRISE.
VOTER’S CONFIDENCE IS IMPAIRED.
Fellow bloggers, Judge Florence Mumba has only worked at ECZ for a few years. Its not that she has been there for ages. Indeed there is something fishy, nowonder those grade 7s are protesting knowing that one day graduates from our Universities and colleges will one day take their jobs. we need to hnour papers and give people jobs, there is no way people can go to college and Uni for 3-7 years and remain on the streets
#54 , great point! Come on people ECZ does not quote its own audit…in this case it is KPMG. #52, another good point, people think ECZ is just one office. Its a large institution a thorough audit would en-campus 72 districts, 150 constituencies, and 1,422 wards, and we are not even including kalales procurements yet. Kalale has been at ECZ for 23 years, has anyone even asked how extensive the audit is? How much do you think ECZ should pay for an audit,10 million kwacha?? are there anyone accountants on this blog or are people talking full of total ignorance come on people lets gets realistic.
#55, So Fred and Dan are neigbhours?
come to think of it, the ACC will do ECZ a big favor, they will now have to fork out money for audits and investigations.. lets see them cry over the costs. lol
You cannot understand PF kaponya mentality. When Dan called on the ACC to investigate they gave overwhelming support. Now that the good Justice Mumba has INVITED the ACC to carry out the probe, suddenly they are questioning its credibility! Looks like they have realised that their strategy lacked research as usual….. they have failed to shatter her confidence which was the pillar of their strategy to destabilise the ECZ.
Maybe the Director is not too comfortable with KPMG, please tell us why.
That is the right thing to do – let ACC move in and find out what is happening at the ECZ. We cant wait to have well organised election to remove the MMD from power. Twacula – we have suffered with this regime who just want the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. You know they have strunggled public media turned it into their kantemba – no analysis from ZNBC anymore! They shamefully removed the clause on abuse of office from the ACC act…hope they were not trying to protect pple like Mama Mumba – although I know she is a clean lady this one…! She should actualy go into politics to replace these Ruphia type men who cant plan for Zambia’s develpment…!
Any one with the Kalale dismisal letter?
Bravo judge mumba atleats you took up the initiate to clean up the ecz by first firing Dan and am sure you had concrete evidence (esp as a judge) should an outcry arise from various stakeholders as is the case now. Dan stayed with ecz for 20 eyes and never took any initiate to clean up ecz. ACC please investigate allegations of corruptions at ecz. For a state, judge mumba has highlighted some of the areas to at as well. My confidence in ACC to carryout professional work has waned but for once please do the job professionally.
Bravo judge mumba atleats you took up the initiative to clean up the ecz by first firing Dan and am sure you had concrete evidence (esp as a judge) should an outcry arise from various stakeholders as is the case now. Dan stayed with ecz for 20 years and never took any initiate to clean up ecz. ACC please investigate allegations of corruptions at ecz. For a start, judge mumba has highlighted some of the areas to look at as well. My confidence in ACC to carryout professional work has waned but for once please do the job professionally.
#22, that is the true summary of what is happening at ECZ–no more no less! spot on.
#55 and #59 Good! Huh, if Fred and Dan are neighbours, and Dan and Kalusha are friends =…………….raise your hand if you know the answer.
Amazing issues here. I’m very happy to peer your article. Thank you a lot and I’m having a look forward to touch you. Will you kindly drop me a mail?
We thank God for His creation. Beauty at it’s best. A taste with eyes, that will rmiean forever in good memory. It was indeed a wonderful experience to see these two beautiful young people tying the knot. May you be tightly knotted together and be secured by Heaven only until Christ comes. Me and my family we wish you the best of times in marriage. God’s blessings