A provincial taskforce comprising officers from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) and the Zambia Police (ZP) set up to investigate allegations of theft, fraud, illegal tendering and corruption at the Northern Province Administration and line ministries has unearthed financial scams worth billions of Kwacha involving government officials in the previous administration.
Provincial Taskforce Chairperson Mary Chikwanda, who is also Provincial Police Commissioner for Northern Province has confirmed the development.
She said the Task-force was constituted by the Permanent Secretary for Northern Province, Emmanuel Mwamba in line with President Michael Sata’s vision and policy of zero tolerance against corruption.
Ms Chikwanda states that the Taskforce has so far seized trucks, luxury motor vehicles, houses and a building complex in Kasama owned by government officials currently under investigations.
She said the investigations have so far exposed financial scams at Provincial Administration, departments at Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education involving over K3billion.
Ms Chikwanda says last week, the Commission also exposed theft of K131.5million stolen at the Road Development Agency (RDA) in the province and had since questioned and will likely arrested an accountant at the department.
She adds that the Accountant at RDA, Ernest Chibuye has since been suspended from work after being questioned for allegedly paying K131.5million from the coffers of RDA to a company called Ertafa General Dealers without seeking authority from or knowledge of his superiors.
She further adds that her team is also pursuing cases of K1.6billion and K400million paid to a bogus company for projects whose works have never been undertaken and have never commenced.
The Provincial police Commissioner also states that the Taskforce is also investigating the purchase and installation of a set of traffic lights in Kasama, whose initial cost was estimated to be only K90million but the provincial administration spent over K750 million on the project.
She also reveals that the other irregularity regarding the traffic lights was that the former Permanent Secretary and now Member of Parliament for Mbala Constituency, Mwalimu Simfukwe never referred the matter to the Zambia Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA) as required by law since the threshold was above the provincial tender committee limit of K500 million.
The Traffic Lights contract was awarded to a company called Cornerstone Construction.
And Northern province Permanent Secretary, Emmanuel Mwamba has revealed that Cornerstone Construction Company has abandoned 7 government projects awarded to the company in Mbala, Kasama, Isoka and Luwingu.
He expressed concern that there were many companies that were dubiously awarded contracts for government works or projects in the province but acted fraudulently by abandoning works after being paid initial amounts or cash advances.
He encouraged the Taskforce to pursue all such matters.
Meanwhile, the Provincial TaskForce has summoned an ACC investigation officer based in Kasama on allegation that he bounced a K15 million Barclays cheque.
Ms Chikwanda emphasised that her office will not discriminate or spare anyone but will allow the law to take its course.
QFM
WAPYA MUZI
EXPERIANCE THE BEST TEACHER,GO ON MWAMBA BUT DONT FALL PREY.OTHER PROVINCES WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
experience
TaskForce investigate Kasama Central MP GBM for deploying soldiers to guard his truck laden with cement that overturned from from Ndola to Kasama and using the soldiers to tow the truck…..CORRUPTION…..ALLERGIC….lol
Merely reading the contents of the story causes so much pain. We have the potential as a country to move forward if it wasn’t for the greed of a few individuals. I hope the authorities will investigate and bring those involved to justice.
Rubbish, too much bickering, can’t u just get down to work, correct the wrongs and life shud go on, shaa! Too much time wasting, and pointing fingers.
It takes a thief to catch a thief. Please do not relent Mwaba, go after every ass(hoes that were involved in the stealing of monies. Make sure you grap every penny that was stolen from the people. Arrest them and throw the keys away in Jail.
#4 wabe tole. What do you call work? Catching thieves is not work to you.
Thumbs up Emmanuel Mwamba he is the best provincial minister bashikulu appointed. RDA is too corrupt move in and clean the mess..wapya munzi anyapanyo
why are auditors failing to capture all these financial scams in govt? I think ther is too much corruption by internal auditors and those from auditor general.Ther is need for govt accountants and auditors to be probed on their assets,there is too much corruption.
#4 uli mbushi malete ya ba wiso
Good one Mwamba, I guess you have to impress M’embe and the Post but all the same well done. Others must follow suit….
and “red lipped snake” calls this as witch hunting. foolish lawyer.
Emmanuel Mwamba, this is selective justice, why are you not revealing the big one, i.e. where Chiluba buried his loot?
Mwamba is a thief himself, he Stole money when he worked as a bank teller at zanaco!
ONE BY ONE NO ONE WILL ESCAPE JUSTICE. IT’S NOT THAT THESE PEOPLE MERELY STOLE GOODS FROM HONEST HARD WORKING PEOPLE TOO AS WELL AS CORRUPT BUSINESS PEOPLE BUT THE FACT IS THEY SAW NOTHING WRONG WITH IT. IGNORANT OR NOT THESE PEOPLE WILL PAY AND LEAVE WAY TO THE HONEST, HARD WORKING, GOOD PEOPLE OF ZAMBIA TO LEAD AND DEVELOP THIS COUNTRY
If this is a true reflection to what happened, let culprit bring back what they stole on pretext of being professionals to belongs to Zambia
If this unearthing of plunder was in Southern or Western province some people would have called it tribal or a witch hunt. You can’t win with some people.
Sata is there to clean the country, no more corrupt money to selfish individuals whom we well know got rich during the chiluba regimme. Sata please hurry up before they burry the money under rivers now. Let every Zambian get rich genuenly than stealing from the poor people. Go go Mwamba boyi…catch them all.
After we are done with arresting the thieves, let’s put in place robust systems so that these things never happen again. We dont want to be here again come 2017 do we?
The biggest problem in all these is failure of management at all levels in the country.
Let us also clean the auditor general’s office. They see this things but they are greased to ignore! Carry out forensic audit of the procurements in all departments. Let us also change the systems- getting three quotations is useless and just facilitates corruption!
If people at the top had set good in the first instance, there would be less of this. Banda has stolen more in his short term than all these small fish put together.
We ask again, where is PF government crediblilty in all this? Indeed we demand everyone involved in corruption activities be brought to book and court proceedings be instituted. The relevant organs do exist in Zambia to deal with national plunder suspects and try them in the court of law. In the mean time Zambians are being fed with Hulla baloo news to prop up some political agenda by PF govt. We need developmental work-in-progress press statements for Zambians to appreciate. Credibility in all these acts is elluding PF govt to divert people’s attention of its non performance in service delivery. We nee progress in development and thats what will promote PF govt’s image.
So far many culprits ( suspects) and massive evidence have been unmasked and still more are being identified but what is worrying is that court proceedings are not being instituted. We are beginning to have some doubts about where these numerous investigations are leading to.
Please take these people to court and start caging those found guilty.
@22 Muna Dekhane…. Get a life.. Elections are over and your candidate lost miserably.. deal with it.. instead of behaving like a deluded ex-girlfriend.. same posting on all blogs… Corruption is so endemic and such a huge problem that any attempt at attacking the vice is welcome and not theories.. We invite actions from people like you if you are at all concerned about moving the country forward and not crying over a broken toy like a small child.. grow up..
The job which has been done the formed task force in NP is supposed to be done by the auditor general’s office.Please start by cleaning up the auditor general’s office first.The auditors are sent to these provinces and nothing much has come out
my word….can someone please ask their member of parliament to move a private members motion to inquire from the government to give an account of just how much has been spent in the last three months on these inquiries, task forces and whatever else they are called. Could there also be an account of who is actually doing the day job of the tens of civil and public servants while they are being paid extra to sit on endless investigations and inquiries and lastly ask the government whether they are not at risk of undermining the authority and functions of lawfully constituted investigative institutions who lately seem to be doing nothing more than the bidding of of the “new turfs on the block”. Someone please help…?)
# 7 Umuntu Mutwe & # 10 imbwa
What’s up? You are offside reread # 4’s statement please. :o
# 24 Digga. When elections have been won or lost is not an end in itself. I love my Zambia and would want to move on with more serious issues beseting the nation- DEVELOPMENT. Yes, a new govt is in place and fighting corruption is vital for zambia to progress. However narrow minded individuals with a belief of what has been achieved so far as development will imply defective concept of service delivery to the majority poor.
While at a distant, sources confirm that not even a single project left by the previous regime even after assessing them as legitimate has been completed by PF govt, let alone erecting a toilet of sort is hard to note. Why? others may not like us questioning it, but for the sake of democratic principles to which they too prescribe, enables us the liberty to hold them to account. Governance is more than political rhetoric. Zambians demand government in power to be seen to bring services to voters who invested their confidence in this new govt.
#7 you misfired you coment might have been meant for #5 you need an apology if you have the head. #5 correcting the wrongs is first cleaning up the mess and bringing the offenders of underdevelopment to book like Mwaba has started doing. This is work money can be recovered for development though not all but assets. That is what should have been happening in all the provinces including Lusaka instead of the president and chella commenting on every scandal it is the work of the PS. Mwaba came in as an underdog but seem to be the one working. the rest are just milking our tax payers money not yet working.
#28 projects are assessement can take time and finishing them can even take longer if there surrounds alot of thieving. because such matters become court cases put that into your head.
#13 off side chiluba was brought to the courts its your president who dismissed the case. no selective Justice here. one beated twice shy Mwaba is meaning good here your comment is childish you are trying to take us back when we are looking at something to bring back some money into development.
And you #14 how old are you why did you report the stealing to the bank. stop drifting our mind on following big issues. Mwaba by heart if he was in corruption boots i am sure he has turned by 180 degrees away to probe such cases. He is coming in as a wounded soldier Not like those who claim to be clean and doing nothing cowards. that mbala PM worked as PS see the mess he left now he will be followed.
Thieves sort them out mwamba.
Zambia is not supposed to be poor but just a victim of thieving with impunity!
Lets see this matter reach a proper ending -Justice for all!! not mere talk but few cases(if any)brought to court!
Warning to the President:These guys should not dupe you into trumpeting what they think you want to hear or else you may find yourself harvesting Air! -he( ) once worked with the polical dribbler!
But the entire Bemba Clan is well known for financial scams, period! Chiluba, Xavier Chungu!!!!!!!! Name them. Sata is actually just Window dressing. Soon or later him and his clan will be silent as they start helping themselves to the nation’s resources. Evidence? Alexander Chikwanda, Nkandu Luo etc, who are they to Michael Sata? His Clan of course and they are many more. Good at insults for people that have good ideas, Number 4 and Number 7. I am sure I will get some with my comment.
Good story but we don’t just want to hear how many scandals or corruption cases you have un earthed, but how much money you have retrived and how many people are arrested and convicted and punished. We are looking at the outcome and not just on blowing the whistles. Do something and bring those thieves to full justice. Those in other provinces must also do something. When all those things were happening, where was the OP branch?
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