Tuesday, March 19, 2024

ZRA’s donated Meat to UTH allegedly shared by people in Management

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ZRA official displaying the confiscated meat
ZRA official displaying the confiscated meat

Most of the meat donated to the University Teaching Hospitals by the Zambia Revenue Authority has been shared by people in management.

On Friday last week, the ZRA donated 200 boxes of processed meat to the Hospital after confiscating it from smugglers.

Ininvestigation has revealed that some people in management where getting as many as 10 boxes each for their homes at the expense of patients who were hoping for a better meal.

The ZRA donated the meat to the Institution with the hope of reducing the cost on the Institution of buying meat.

Other Institutions that benefited were the Zambia Army who received 350 boxes of meat, Zambia Air Force who got 250 boxes, Zambia national Service 250 boxes, Zambia Correctional Service 250 boxes, Zambia National Service 250 boxes and the Levy Mwanawasa Teaching Hospital 200 boxes.

The Zambia Revenue Authority on Friday last week unearthed a transit fraud smuggling case worth over K408,000 which is a pure case of transit fraud contrary to the Customs and Excise Act 322 of the Laws of Zambia, according to Topsy Sikalinda, the Zambia Revenue Authority Corporate Communications Manager.

Facts of the matter are that meat products purported to be transiting for the Democratic Republic of Congo when in fact not were being offloaded at a farm named Ilobezi Zambia Limited located between Mazabuka and Monze

The confiscated  boxes of processed meat being offloaded from a truck
The confiscated boxes of processed meat being offloaded from a truck
The confiscated  boxes of processed meat being offloaded from a truck
The confiscated boxes of processed meat being offloaded from a truck

65 COMMENTS

    • When this story broke, one of the patrons wrote a comment on how this meat was going to be stolen by management. I laughed it off quietly because I thought it was far fetched but boy was I wrong. If you can steal meat meant for patients what about even more valuable stuff like medication?

    • We advised them to donate at Chainama Hospital. And then to all orphanages. And a riot police vehicle could have taken some boxes to Chimbokaila and Mukobeko. Alelo funerals ubwingi mu Lusaka naku Kafue.
      What is UTH, why people donate there?

    • How do you share fresh meat that has not been certified by Health authorities at its source…this meat should have been destroyed….why is this meat so cheap?

    • UTH management are learning from the PF cabinet on how to loot! Rape the country =Politicians, steal from patients= UTH management

    • Surprise? Not so, tell me who is not stealing what they have not worked for? The citizenry is complaining of stealing by politicians and officers in government institutions daily and this incident is just a confirmation of what everyone has been talking about. The governance environment is enabling thus coupled with the economic hardship most report for work definitely hoping they won’t get back home empty handed!

    • Uubomba mwi bala, but not ukulya imbuto. By order of the mighty Chief field worker. I pity this generation! If they can steal what is meant for patients, what can they not steal?

  1. Nothing really to be worried about. Members of the UTH management may just be digging their early graves with their teeth. In 2015 WHO had this report on the link between processed meat and cancer:
    “Processed meats – such as bacon, sausages and ham – do cause cancer, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Its report said 50g of processed meat a day – less than two slices of bacon – increased the chance of developing colorectal cancer by 18%.”

    Good luck UTH management; you think you are more clever than your patients.

    • I wouldn’t feed my children on stolen meat.
      South African meat exporter will sue ZRA for stealing their products.

  2. Often when most of us complain about Zambia, we make it all about the Politicians. Yes, for their greed, which is at the highest level they deserve to be blamed. But let us kid ourselves NOT. Our thieving Politicians are a symptom and not the root of the problem. The problem is a broken or rotten society. A society that has bred PF politicians. A Society that has bred UTH Management. A Society that raised corrupt Teachers who leak exams and sell school places to undeserving children. A society in which stealing public funds is not considered an abhorrent crime.
    You can smell greediness at every level. UTH management is well -paid but they have to steal meat from patients. And see the level of stealing, 10 boxes? So we expect such people to play well once they are in Politics? We can…

    • Well, when you have a president who does not deny that he is a corrupt theif everyday , the whole civil service thinks being labbeled a corrupt theif is ok….

    • @Spaka, you’re right. Corrupt Lungu has failed to control corruption in the country. How can he? He’s one of the corrupt bunch, so everybody learns from him. He has no will nor desire to fight corruption and this is the result. You’ll never see stories like this coming out of a country like Botswana. Only in Zambia where we have politicians with sticky fingers…always stealing and teaching others to do the same. What a shame.

  3. Remember that Bemba song : “Chilyelyelye uleke ukalya nefyakukula…chilyelyelye uleke ukalya nefyakukulya…”

  4. … remove thieving Politicians but unless there is a seismic culture change we will never be able to love ourselves as a people so as to serve the interests of the country. Culture constitutes our values, beliefs and norms. This is where the problem is. It is why a conman has a far better chance of being elected to public office than an honest person because the majority will vote for a candidate who mirrors their character.

    If you can’t give the meat to the patients, what about drugs that could earn a lot of money if sold. This country needs serious fixing. I and you need to look inside our hearts. Removing the inept Politician is a solution in the short term and relatively easy. We need to look at a far harder solution, which is to fix our culture so it does give birth to malformed…

    • … remove thieving Politicians but unless there is a seismic culture change we will never be able to love ourselves as a people so as to serve the interests of the country. Culture constitutes our values, beliefs and norms. This is where the problem is

    • Hunger isn’t new with PF. Read the post by Bululu above. You are attempting to politisize things for the benefit of your hh and upndead in a most childish way.

  5. Cage the thugs and thieves at UTH , the meat was meant for patients . Imagine at Easter time when the poor, needy, and sick need more support and help but you have people in management who can afford to buy meat steal from the sick. What a shame

    • No one is accountable , it’s bussiness as usual, just like lungu , no one cares about being called a corrupt theif….

  6. But first and foremost ba LT, tell us where’s this meat is coming from and/or is it safe to eat? Did ba ZRA carry out laboratory tests to prove the meats are safe and NOT laced with GMO poisons or those mortuary chemicals they use on human dead bodies so they don’t rot/smell? Just what’s so WRONG with us mwebantu please?

    Honestly unless we Zambians change our mindset sure kaledza; something very serious is going yo happen to us as a pipo mark my words! I have never known of a pipo this careless. Don’t say l never warned you!

  7. Are you really surprised about this revelation? This thieving has been going on for several years in Zambia and it’s nothing to do with PF or any other political party !! Its all about the culture of dependency , greed and lack of morality. Western charities send tons of stuff and finance to countries such as ours and we all know who the beneficiaries are _ it’s those in management !! Zambia is a Christian country ? ?? There’s more to Christianity than just big talk !! Actions speak louder than words , my friends!!!

    • Bwana, the president does not deny that he is a corrupt theif, he says those accusing should provide evidence……

      That is how the whole GRZ now thinks…

  8. ZRA doesn’t rant about tax dodgers. They justly sort them out

    Here, there is just one statement of fact “Most of the meat donated to the University Teaching Hospitals by the Zambia Revenue Authority has been shared by people in management”. Why not a picture or any iota of proof.

    Don’t demonise Leaders at any level. It is wrong and unhelpful in encouraging everyone to take their turn in leadership.

  9. The whole civil service is rotten, this is what we have been saying 24/7…..teaching people the right morals is what leadership does ….

    Now Zambia has a president , who is the only leader in the world, who does not deny that he is a corrupt thief……

    What do you expect from civil servants ??

    • It sad, though I concur with someone who said this trend has nothing to do with pf. It is something to with morality. Remember in early days of HIV/AIDS prevallence, Donors were pumping in a lot of monies in the ministry of health and NGOs. There were quiet a lot of organisations dealing with this scurge. But what were we seing. A lot of workshops in porsh hotels and lodges without huge allowances drawn by individuals at the expense of the poor suffering patients. The Lungus and pf then were not known. Lets base our comments on facts. Let the minister of health issue a statement on this because we don’t know yet whether this meat has already been driven. And mostly, whrn such foods are impunded they sre subjected to tests before they can be distribute.

  10. THE DONATION WAS TO UTH, AND NOT NECESSARILY TO PATIENTS AT UTH. SO DO NOT BLAME MANAGEMENT. EVEN WITH THE SOLDIERS. THE MEAT WENT TOO THE BOSSES. NOT TO TRAINEE SOLDIERS.

  11. This is not only happening to the donated meat but to all procured food stuffs in all government institutions. Only a tinny fraction of the procured food especially meat reach the intended beneficiaries. Take for a example the Correctional Services bills for foods meat supplies, one may be made to think that the inmates eat meat everyday and yet they don’t. Sometimes the meat is not even delivered to the institutions but officials simply connive with the food suppliers to fake the deliveries and they share the money. In some cases, they purport to have supplied an exaggerated quantity of the commodity so that they share the money from the excess supply with conniving officials

  12. It’s not simply greed. It’s deeper than that. Poor morality has taken hold among Zambians because of the period of austerity caused by a failed economic system after UNIP was caught short for over borrowing from Western banks who loaded up debt to collect interests during the 70’s oil crisis. Zambians suffered greatly, and their psychological well being was affected to the extent of robbing anything to survive. This includes land/hoyse thefts where people take assets from others. Today we are still seeing this behaviour caused by extreme suffering where people lost their morality to survive. Although things are better now, the economy is expanding to bring back wealth, people are still holding on to bad behaviour because that has become the new morality.

    • Recently, our minister for religion rightly addressed this lack of morality in Zambia. The government must use the law more powerfully to correct this terrible disease which Zambians suffer from. It’s psychological in nature, where people have not had a chance to sit and address, upon personal reflection, how they can let go of the pain of past suffering to become whole.

      That is why Zambians should be scared of our government basing our economy on borrowing. When the economies of the world dip into recession the cost is more than financial. It destroys society, people, culture, morality etc. What the law should do with this is to act firmly, arresting and putting on trial these management teams for all to see. Sadly, it sounds like the hospital’s would be entirely without any…

    • How was it established that the meat seized was safe to est? Before distribution? Unknown suppliers of foodstuff to hospitals should not be used.

  13. And we have UPND tribal cadres singing that the PF Govnt is corrupt.Look guys,our society is rotten.Things have been like this since UNIP days.Corruption became worse under FTJ Chiluba’s Govnt when the likes of HH even got rich when he under valued Govnt assets(privatization).Almost all Govnt officials are crooked.They think about deals day and night.No matter how many presidents will change in Zambia,still our system will remain rotten.Even known crooks such as CK,HH cant do anything to eradicate this cancer from Govnt workers!!!
    Now “Spaka,Jay Jay”,tell the world,is it president Edgar Lungu who ordered the UTH officials to steal the meat?You guys in UPND have to be real.Most Zambians are crooked and no president will control them unless we all change the mind set!!THIS IS VERY SAD…

    • #Njimbu, My brother, you have hit the nail on the head. Until we accept that we are a rotten and corrupt to the core, we will never stem this sickness. We keep on singing Lungu this Lungu that. The problem is not with Lungu alone it is the whole Zambian society we are corrupt. All these leaders so called are all corrupt because they come out of a corrupt society. What we need is a deliberate effort to create an anti corruption curriculum for all the schools in Zambia. If we do not do something about this corruption we are doome.

  14. The question I would like an answer to is; What type of meat was it? From where? Was it safe for consumption and if yes who tested and what were the results?

  15. Oh gosh, with no proper health certification, UTH management have consumed dog and human meat !! Kaledza chabe, let’s wait and see.

  16. All government wings are present at borders….Health, forestry, ZCSA, ZEMA etc. Therefore the assumption is that this meat passed that test. When you go into these supermarkets pushing trolleys full of polonys and other products, where do you think the bulk comes from?? The fact that there are checks at the borders is the reason this meat was captured.

  17. Lomba ni mwana wa bani e iba nyama ya ma donation. Boma li ikepo nzelu ba kapokola ba fufuze onse ecita izi nzelu za umamambala akatiwe nonyatiwa ngako nakuponyewa mu chitolokosi zaka zinyinji.

  18. If meat can be stolen and shared its scary what else is being stolen.This is exactly how Congo became Congo. Not long ago there was a stampede for food.Yet our politicians only talk about tribalism and hate.Listen tomorrow to the speech, it will all be about tribalism. Thats guaranteed .As a people that’s what we love hear i suppose.How can salaried civil servants share food for patients.What else are they sharing?They are sharing every thing.As a nation we fallen from grace

  19. Zambians can be poisoned very easily through food! Too much poverty mentality!
    ZRA was supposed to simply destroy that mechandise. What if it was a mouse trap?
    Did our so called experts at the borders do all the tests? We are very careless with ourselves and it will just be one day when we’ll be very unlucky with these imports! Muleke Chilyelyelye! You will one day eat what you are not supposed to eat!

  20. According to a new study led by researchers at the UK’s University of Oxford, eating bacon daily may increase the risk of bowel (colorectal) cancer. … The researchers found that processed meats have a greater risk than red meat! (2019)

  21. This act is uncalled for.What a shame!If the one who manages the place where treatment is given can deprive the person in need of treatment,then we are doomed.We call upon the government to bring culprit’s face to face with justice. The patients are in a state of shock I guess.The act is egocentric and we need to get ride of such if we are to develop as a nation. Such acts question the state of our future as a nation.

  22. Comment:ZRA should take precautions because one day the owners of the confiscated meat and trucks are going to set a trap. They will poison the meat and it is going to be a disaster in this country. Why not destroying that meat?

  23. There is too much a culture of greediness in Zambia and believe it or not, even the drugs donated to these hospitals end up in drug stores because these employees receive and resale them at the expense of the patients as always. How do we really expect to improve and develop as institutions with the primitive selfish culture? I hope that responsible authorities can take stern actions towards to those criminals. It is very disheartening to read about such behaviours, just imagine what else these people are stealing to cripple the institution.

  24. Did ZRA ascertain that the meat is actually cow meat??????????, or some other meat like human (from China), dog, horse, etc, just thinking loudly.

  25. Did ZRA ascertain that the meat is actually cow meat??????????, or some other meat like human (from China), dog, horse, etc, just thinking loudly and you take 10 boxes of unverified meat, that is if it is unverified, some families will start barking, woo woo wo wo wooo. LOL

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