Government has dismissed 13 civil servants who were involved in various offences concerning public funds.
The dismissed officials, mostly from the accounting cadre, are from Ministry of General Education, Ministry of Commerce Trade and Industry, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Provincial Administration – Lusaka Province.
Ministry of Finance Spokesperson, Chileshe Kandeta has confirmed the development to ZNBC News.
Mr. Kandeta says under the Ministry of Education, Chizaso Thole, a Senior Accountant, Eliya Mwale, Accountant, Lazarous Chanda, Assistant Accountant and Ivy Sibajene, Accounts Assistant, have been dismissed in accordance with section 21 of the disciplinary Code and procedures for handling offences in the public service.
He also said Moses Thole, Accounts Assistant, under Ministry of Commerce has been dismissed, while Mr. Rogers Mwanza, a Senior Accountant, and Mr. Lukanda Matambo, an Accounts Assistant, were both dismissed from the civil service in December 2017, for similar offences.
Two officers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have also been dismissed and these are, Noel Mulopa, an Assistant Director of Operations, and Lawrence Phiri an Accountant.
Under the Provincial Administration – Lusaka Province, four officials have been dismissed, namely, Grace Zimba, Psela Banda, Nzewa Chumbu and Gideon Zulu.
Mr. Kandeta said government’s commitment to transparency and accountability in the utilisation of public resources through implementation of Public Financial Management Reforms is bearing fruit, after the enactment of the Public Financial Management Act.
Below is the full statement from the Ministry of Finance
GOVERNMENT ACTS AGAINST MISAPPROPRIATION OF PUBLIC FUNDS
Monday, October 22, 2018
The Government, through the Civil Service Commission, has dismissed twelve [12] accounting and one [1] operations staff who were involved in various offences involving public funds. The dismissed officials, mostly from the accounting cadre, are from Ministry of General Education, Ministry of Commerce Trade and Industry, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Provincial Administration – Lusaka Province.
Under the Ministry of Education, Mr. Chizaso Thole, a Senior Accountant, Mr. Eliya Mwale, Accountant, Mr. Lazarous Chanda, Assistant Accountant and Ms. Ivy Sibajene, Accounts Assistant, have been dismissed in accordance with section 21 (a)(v) of the disciplinary code and procedures for handling offences in the public service.
Mr. Moses Thole, Accounts Assistant, under Ministry of Commerce Trade and Industry, has been dismissed, while Mr. Rodgers Mwanza, a Senior Accountant, and Mr. Lukanda Matambo, an Accounts Assistant, were both dismissed from the civil service in December, 2017, for similar offences under the same Ministry.
Two [2] officers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have been dismissed. These are, Mr. Noel Mulopa, an Assistant Director – Operations, and Mr. Lawrence Phiri an Accountant.
Under the Provincial Administration – Lusaka Province, four [4] officials have been dismissed. These are, Ms. Grace Zimba, a Principal Accountant, Mr. Psela Banda, an Accountant, Ms. Nzewa Chumbu, an Accounts Assistant, and Mr. Gideon Zulu, an Accounts Assistant.
The Government’s commitment to transparency and accountability in the utilisation of public resources through implementation of Public Financial Management Reforms is bearing substantial fruit – especially after the enactment of the Public Financial Management Act, 2018. The funds misappropriated by the dismissed officials will be recovered from their terminal and pension benefits. In addition, the due process of the law will also be followed to the latter in reaching conclusive positions in accordance with the Public Financial Management Act, 2018.
The Public Financial Management Act, 2018, is now the principal act on public financial management matters. Since its coming into force, the Act has helped to facilitate easy enforcement of regulations; offered clear guidance on management of financial reforms; and, stipulated offences and penalties related to public resources in both local and central government.
The Public Financial Management Act, 2018, is also embedded with provisions that have now operationalized the IFMIS and The Treasury Single Account in law.
Upon the instruction of The Republican President Mr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu, and on the guidance of the Minister of Finance, an Internal Audit Oversight Committee has been constituted whose mandate is to make decisions on internal audit reports from Ministries, Provinces and Other Controlling Bodies, and to analyse and give guidance on management reports assigned to respective government institutions by the Auditor General in order to forestall adverse reports in future audits.
The Government of Zambia Internal Audit Oversight Committee is Chaired by the Secretary to the Cabinet and also comprises the Secretary to the Treasury; Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet [Administration]; Controller of Internal Audit – Ministry of Finance; Accountant General – Ministry of Finance; Permanent Secretary [Public Service Management Division – Cabinet Office]; and, Chairpersons of Civil/Public/Teaching/Local Government/Police & Prisons Service Commissions.
Following the upgrading of the Office Controller of Internal Audit to the level of Permanent Secretary by the President, the Ministry of Finance is in the process of strengthening the cohesion and functionality of Audit Committees in Ministries, Provinces and Other Controlling Bodies. The Ministry is also in the process of developing a Risk Management Framework to ensure that, going forward, we achieve a significant reduction and ultimately, elimination of infringements related to the handling; storage; care; and, utilisation of public resources.
We take this opportunity to clarify that a media report stating that over K453, 998 went missing at the Ministry of Finance as a result of the crash of the Integrated Financial Management Information System [IFMIS], is a mix-up. The funds in question relate to the Zambia Bureau of Standards and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission [CCPC] under the Ministry of Commerce Trade and Industry, which were fraudulently paid to an individual for the year ending 31st December, 2017.
The IFMIS, an automated and integrated information technology platform aimed at improving the acquisition, allocation, utilisation and conservation of public financial resources, developed operational dysfunction in January 2018, and was restored in some sites by March, 2018, and following its re-installation in all the configured sites [Ministries and Provinces], became fully operational by the end May, 2018.
The Controller of Internal Audit, an office under the Ministry of Finance which is in charge of internal financial controls in all Ministries, Provinces and Other Controlling Bodies, is currently undertaking a post IFMIS RE-INSTALLATION AUDIT for which a report will be produced once the exercise is completed. Only then, will we know whether there has been any infringement of the provisions of the Public Financial Management Act, 2018, in handling financial transactions during the period when the system was in an unusable state.
Concerning the K453, 998 that is reported to have been paid to an individual instead of Zambia Bureau of Standards and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, we wish to clarify that, the IFMIS is a government wide platform at Ministry of Finance but operated in other Line Ministries and Provinces. One of its most important features is an in-built audit trail configuration. It is this audit-trail configuration which caused the Controller of Internal Audit to trace the suspicious transaction and raise the same in a report shared with the Office of the Auditor General. When the matter was brought to the attention of the Ministry of Commerce Trade and Industry, under which Zambia Bureau of Standards and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission fall, the leadership of that Ministry acted swiftly and dismissed two individuals who were involved in the fraudulent transaction.
Mr. RODGERS MWANZA, a Senior Accountant, and Mr. LUKANDA MATAMBO, an Accounts Assistant, were both working under the Ministry of Commerce Trade and Industry at the time they committed the infringement of law on public finance, and were dismissed from the public service in December, 2017. The case is now under investigation of law enforcement agencies and the due process of the law will be followed to the latter in reaching a conclusive end on the matter.
The Ministry of Finance also wishes to confirm that THE REPORT OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL ON THE ACCOUNTS OF THE REPUBLIC FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st DECEMBER, 2017, has been received. The Minister of Finance, Margaret Mwanakatwe, has since instructed the Secretary to the Treasury, Fredson Yamba, to ensure that the report is studied thoroughly and an action taken report prepared before the next Joint Financial Governance Forum for Ministers and Controlling Officers, scheduled for December, 2018.
Chileshe Kandeta
For and on behalf of MINISTRY OF FINANCE
Why have left out Edgar Chagwa Lungu, the biggest thief of them all.
HH is the biggest one! He should tell the nation how much kickbacks he received for selling the mines. How much kickbacks for selling other individual companies. How many companies he owes which he bought as a result of inside-trading illegal practices, how much kickbacks he got for disclosing and finding money to buy companies on sale at fixed prices to buddies and how much money in total he got after privatization. He must also tell the nation the reason why he took the money to a tax haven in PANAMA and how much he swindled Zambia. After that we can vote for him even if he is CHILDISH.
This is window dressing. The chief culprits are the politicians. The FIC report highlight one minister who had 6 million dollars in his dollar account and 17 million kwacha in his kwacha account, but he is still in government. These guys are small fish sacrificed to protect the real thieves. We all know who the real culprits are.
And what’s even more sad is that if the donors had ot threatened to cut aid, even this would not have happened. Zambia, under Mr. Lungu is doomed
Since when does Mr.Kandeta spokesperson for Ministry of Finance announce dismissals of servants in other ministries.
Sounds like sacrificial lambs on the alter of donor funds.
Later this week, the long-awaited 34-mile sea bridge connecting mainland China to Hong Kong and Macau will finally open.
In a ceremony on Tuesday that Chinese president Xi Jinping will reportedly attend, the bridge will officially open. Its accolades include the designation of “world’s longest sea bridge,” a $20 billion price tag, nine years of construction, and a whole lot of controversy. HH HALLUCINATING WITH HIS TRIBAL LOSERS. They think China is a small Bantustan like Namwala.
And those names for goodness sake eh! wako ni wako at its best
So two thieves were dismissed in December 2017 for stealing public funds, and the issue is still under investigation almost a year later? These thieves should’ve spent the first year of their 20 years in prison by now. This is why corruption will never end in Zambia. Don’t just dismiss people who’re stealing public funds. SEND THEM TO PRISON!!!!! Make sure you put them behind bars for 20 years or more. That’s how you deter others from committing the same corruption crimes. That’s how you fight corruption. Anything less than that means you’re just playing games. And why is corrupt Lungu not on the list? Shame on you.
The scapegoats
Sad and embarrassing… Why not fire their bosses too.
IF you lose five times why not fire yourself too?
This is a good step in the right direction, name and dismissing the officer found wanting would deter others. Now they need to follow through with PROSECUTION and forfeiture to the state of any assets accrued by these thieving officers, if found to have assets not in line with their earnings.
YES I LIKE IT THAT THEY ARE NAMING THE THIEVES
At least they tried tribal balancing when stealing
Ha ha ha ha!
Ba brother Check that list again.
kekeke When you work with bembas who ill who believe in Uwamwibala alya mwibala, what do you expect?
After privatisation or after 1,000 acquisition of land in Namwala?
HH worked in the PRIVATIZATION FIELD. HE “ATE” IN THE FIELD.
Did these guys named here purchase those fire trucks and ambulances? Who borrowed from South African bank $150 extra from the needed amount? Who is on the list to purchase some missile proof jet? (By the way, how does one try to see if the bulletproof or missile proof works?) The thief is at Plot 1.
Dude you are not making any sense!
Are you implying that just because you don’t like the deal Zambia Air Force entered into to purchase those four aircrafts from Russia, then civil servants who abuse public funds should go Scott free? Don’t you think these are two separate issues and can be tackled separately as they should be?
You are the same people who cry that Govt does nothing about the findings of the Auditor General’s Office. Now that the Govt seems to be getting serious about this issue/abuse which has bedeviled our
Country for far too long and you still have problems with that? No freaking kidding!
The Referee blew the WHISTLE for a foul that never happened. When we checked HAGAIN we found that the Referee was exercising the policy of “SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL TEAM BADALA.”
Civil servants will always get it not politicans!!
Dismiss Edgar Lungu too naimwe. When a ship runs into some rocks or another ship it is the captain that takes the flack.
Please do not refer to those pf cadres as civil servants. Do not insult the profession
NEDCOZ Inferiority Complex.
Just LOOK AT THE names EASTERNERS (mAJORITY) FOLLOWED BY TONGALISH CLIQUE SPEAKING CHAPS (second)
Only Ivy sibajene is Tonga. The rest are Easterners and northerners.
Don’t just fire them, they need some jail time to set an example. This is small fish, but now you now need to target the big fish in our small pond.
Awe mukwai nomba nembuto bayamba ukwiba ?
Voters need to finish the job.
Don’t forget!
Window dressing from lungu after donners threaten aid cuts and no one willing to borrow PF money…..
…again, the real thief is in state house; he needs to be dismissed and prosecuted with forfeiture of ill gotten gains…I.e everything. Then we’ll if his concubine Sharon will afford internet access.
Why HH has not been arrested for the privatisation of the companies in Zambia? Bcoz it seems there’s a lot of ignorance to some pipo in terms of agency. Please, understand AGENCY then post your comment…kkkkk.
Dismissal is not enough. These guys must be sent to gallows at Mukobeko.
Sharon sir , you always make me wonder if you have all the five senses in place . may be one fuse is brown off .. you are the prophet of doom . Why do you always talk about HH every time you write ? you don’t have any thing to take home . No wonder why you picked the name of a woman . a normal person can’t behave like this. try to think out side the box . walikolwe ichisushi chakwa chawile . amashanina bunga aya .
the names speak for themselves……………………… suprising there is no lozi or tonga or luvale or kaondes………
@18robmwale YOU ALWAYS THINK TRIBE BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE.. NOT JOINING YOU,but I believe Ivy SIBAJENE is NEITHER Eastern NOR Bemba and I doubt if NZEWA is from Eastern or Bemba. Anyway, the reality is Bemba speakers put together (which are Luapula,Muchinga,Nothern, half of Central the Copperbelt provinces( includes rural where you find Lambas they understand Bemba easily than other Zambian languages) are a HUGE GROUP, so you find them more often in many place and when you add Easterners to that they BECOME THE MAJORITY, accompany 6.5 rural Provinces with majority in urban areas too!! That is why they are easily in the news because they move Zambia!!
And you fakkas accuse us tribalism against you? There it’s, you have just proved how inferior you feel about yourself. You haven’t even checked the names and there you go farting Bemba, Bemba. Grow up and put your house in order.
LT why are you not reporting the Sunday interview with honourable Mumba- independent member of parliament for Kantashi. He espounded alot of very important points pertaining to Zambia’s economy. The man was very neutral in his explanations. Give him space
IVY SIBAJENE IS MARRIED AND NZEWA IS NOT LOZI OR TONGA…. I KNOW THEM……..
@20, See you lair,tribalist you have to resort to making people married who are NOT, EVEN THE NAME ROB MWALE IS NOT YOURS, coz we know Easterners or Bembas (bcoz they are the ones who carry the name Mwale )DON’T behave like you!! FACT IS, EASTERNERS AND BEMBA SPEAKERS PUT TOGETHER CONSTITUTE THE MAJORITY IN ZAMBIA, DENY IT AND WILL BE RUNNING AWAY FROM REALITY!!
No wonder we have problems in this country. A thief is thief regardless of tribe. I’m sure if the culprits were all Tonga you’re going to say it victimization or ethnic cleansing. Just grow up and accept who ever is republican president without looking at their tribe.
SO DONT INSULT…. I AM FROM THE EAST…. TUMBUKA BY MY FATHER AND NGONI FROM MY MOTHER…….
GREW UP IN KOPALA
ON SUCH YOU CAN SEE SHARON POINTING A FINGER AT HH.BUT PLEASE SHARON SPEAK ON A VERY SENSITIVE TOPICS NOT WHICH ARE PETTY
Nzewa Chumbu is a party animal and very pompous. Kansi she is just a thieving beach. Just google her on facebook. These civil servants need prison sentences. Its not enough to dismiss them, the amounts are collosal.