Friday, March 29, 2024

Firm Owned by Defence P.S Fails to Complete Construction of a Maternity Annex Awarded in 2013

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Defense Permanent Secretary Stard Mwale
Defense Permanent Secretary Stardy Mwale

Kabushi Member of Parliament Bowman Lusambo has called for the arrest of a local contractor who has dragged the construction of a Maternity Annex at Kabushi Clinic for five years.

Stardy Construction, a company owned and operated by Defence Permanent Secretary Stardy Mwale was awarded a 1.6 million tender to construct a Maternity Annex at the clinic.

At the time the contract was awarded, Mr Mwale was serving as PF Copperbelt Province Chairman.

The project to construct a Maternity Annex aims to bring maternity services closer to the women of Kabushi who presently are forced to cross the Kafubu river to access maternity services.

Copperbelt Acting Health Director Christopher Dube confirmed that construction works started in 2013 and were expected to last a period of 18 months.

Dr. Dube also confirmed that the contractor has been paid the 1.6 million Kwacha which is the value of the contract.

“This project has had a lot of snags. It’s been start-stop for a long time but government doesn’t owe the contractor anything amounts at the moment. The government has paid him everything in line with the contract,” Dr Dube said.

This came to light when Kabushi Member of Parliament Bowman Lusambo toured their clinic on Saturday.

Mr. Lusambo who is also Lusaka Province Minister called for the arrest of the contractor for failing to meet contractual agreements.

He also directed the Ndola District Health Office to terminate the contract immediately.

Mr Lusambo said he is not impressed with the quality of work and the work culture exhibited by the contractor.

“This is highly disappointing. We cannot have this kind of altitude towards development. How does completing a simple Maternity Annex take more than five years?”

Mr Lusambo added,” the President is interested in bringing development to all corners of this country but it is these kind of contractors that are not helping the situation. They are merely bringing the name of the President into disrepute and I for one as Kabushi M.P, I shall not allow that to happen.”

He recommended that the National Council for Construction should move in and sanction the contractor for failing to perform according to the contract terms.

“These are our local contractors and the President wants to empower them. Unfortunately they are disappointing him and when we give to a Chinese, they are the same people that start crying that Chinese are taking their jobs. It’s highly unfortunate.”

Kabushi Member of Parliament Bowman Lusambo tours the incomplete structure meant for a Maternity Annex at Kabushi Clinic on Saturday
Kabushi Member of Parliament Bowman Lusambo tours the incomplete structure meant for a Maternity Annex at Kabushi Clinic on Saturday
Kabushi Member of Parliament Bowman Lusambo tours the incomplete structure meant for a Maternity Annex at Kabushi Clinic on Saturday
Kabushi Member of Parliament Bowman Lusambo tours the incomplete structure meant for a Maternity Annex at Kabushi Clinic on Saturday
Kabushi Member of Parliament Bowman Lusambo tours the incomplete structure meant for a Maternity Annex at Kabushi Clinic on Saturday
Kabushi Member of Parliament Bowman Lusambo tours the incomplete structure meant for a Maternity Annex at Kabushi Clinic on Saturday

43 COMMENTS

  1. Ngati ni ba PF vakangana so manje they are punching at their self-inflicted vulnerabilities. I bet you there are lots and lots of such behaviors in this government. It is a very shoddy leadership outfit. I still do not know how they are even putting themselves for another five years mwandini. Ine cinikanga kucita comprehend.

    • Seriously?? A PS, civil servant, has a company with contracts from PF government?
      Wow wow wow, what a group of thieves rooming at helm of Zambia.
      Is Stady Mwale going to survive once more, he just escaped the Chimese saga.
      Is Ba Edgar going to promote Stardy Mwale like he did to Simon Miti, Chitotela Siliya and others day robbers?

    • Easterners are always associated with theft and violence….his uncle Lungu told him that ubomba mwibala alya mwibala..Mwale is just fulfilling Lungu’s pronouncements…..and these PF bandits busy creating fake companies and awarding themselves tenders and also paying themselves up front the whole amount……broad day light stealing

    • This wont go anywhere. I am sure we have more of such country wide. Where on earth do you pay in full before the project is done? Even at domestic level , would you pay your casual worker in full before they tend your garden? Or your brick layer before even digging the foundation?

    • IN- $1.6 million contract awarded to PF copperbelt chairman in 2013 by the name of Stardy Mwale. OUT- Lusambo threw a tantrum unknowingly disclosing corruption in PF.

    • Someone correct me if am wrong, was this tour meant to open this building, only to find its at lintal level, but he is MP for the area,that info should be on his finger tips, guess those pupil went to sing praise songs and present poems about development, development, development.are they not supposed to be preparing for the exams?

    • Call the nation to prayer and all will be well. Just ask Godfridah Sumaili and Bishop Banda of the Northmead Assembly of God.

    • Give the project to AVIC International, delivery time is guaranteed ati awe. Zambian Engineers and Contractors are incompetent ati awe. Empower them. But how?
      All of you even commentators on this platform are fake and incompetent except me.
      5 years? If this story is true, you are summarized as a bunch of losers.

      NCC and EIZ have failed in this instance. How did you issue certificates to incompetent Stardy Construction?

    • If this doesn’t sound like corruption to PF, then I don’t know what type of corruption DORA alleges that that ECL is fighting against.
      Shame!!

    • You mean this MP does not know that this project is way overdue? This is simply incompetence. Bowman does not even have a right to instruct police to arrest anyone. He should simply open a case and allow the matter to be investigated. Not this showmanship!

    • What merit?
      Everyone fakes merit nowadays.

      They can deliver/supply, construct, offer any kind of service anywhere.

      They form tuma companies in 48hrs and prove merit. Ask CKinsultor.

      As consultants, they can even sell mines and get wealthy with stashed away dollars. Ask H².

      They overrule professional advise with impunity and give fake and unschooled recommendations to Cabinet. Ask Harry Kalaba.
      Merit in this skin is a fiery tale, an illusion. It starts with certifiers. I submit.

  2. Comment:How did he get paid the full amount when works have not been completed. Civil works are normally contracted as admeasurement contracts, meaning one gets paid according to the work done at each given stage. That’s you make a claim only after some works have been certified as done in accordance with specifications. But this guy got paid for work not done, this is very disturbing.

  3. Stardy Mwale is more close to Edgar than Bowman, so it’s a battle between the bull and the teak. The teak came from MMD to eat in PF. The cause for shoddy works in these projects is the Govt. Bowman isn’t the supervising engineer, he’s just throwing tantrums as usual. Govt has lost all cases of cancelled contracts because it’s the main culprit and I’ve no doubt that this yet another such case

    • Nay he is equally malabisi, malabo. A million times corrupt.

      Kodi Ukudziba ku Malabo iwe. Ukari mufana ai?

    • We need a commission of Inquiry ahead of 2021 elections on Privatization and Lower Zambezi saga. we cant afford crooks to be on the ballot paper.

    • True Big Ben!
      This is why they want to win 2021 at all costs including life and limb because they know they are candidates for jail!
      They also know that we’ll be bringing back KK’s Code of Conduct for all in leadership – No contracts or double business dealings when serving in public office as this leads to impunity, abuse and corruption! Public office is for serving and not to be served! A strict Code of Conduct should help reduce competition for public office as most aspirants do so to feather their nests and not to serve! We need to go back to KK standards!

  4. To PF this is music and an enormous success. If this is not evidence of corruption then God help Zambia. Why can’t Bowman Lusambo call this corruption? He thinks corruption occurs only at road blocks. This gov is a cesspool!

    • Corruption is corruption.

      If there is a law to put Stardy to check, let it start to roll.
      You can use any law in the circles of corruption but also include obtaining money by force pretences.
      Or causing death to unborn children in Kabushi who were scheduled to be saved in that maternity facility had it been done in the stipulated time from 2013.

  5. Where was the Tender board (if they even exist) when this government official was awarded the contract? Or are there no other construction companies owned by private businesses in Zambia? This type of corruption and nepotism is the root cause of a neverending economic crisis in the country.

    • True.
      But if he finished that project within the stipulated time, your nerves would be cool.
      Even this time, you hear of Government workers, Ministers, rushing for 20% subcontracting policy opportunities in the road sector. Are there laws or mechanisms to put them to check? If yes, those laws have taken a long long long nap.
      Reports also indicate that civil servants and relatives have stormed FISP programs list yet not producing any kilos in maize production. What else don’t we know? Your summation on the issue is correct once again. Tribalism is bad.

  6. Recommendations

    If Zambian Contractors would fail on construction, it follows that National Constitution Council, Government and the subject – the contractor have failed lamentably.
    1.NCC must have an unwavering inspectory department to constantly undertake periodic checks or police Government awarded construction contracts across the nation in cahoots with the line Ministry for project evaluation and monitoring.
    2. NCC should almost always engage with listed contractors through seminars, refresher courses and sensitization for construction and project management excellence.
    3. Contractors must have project management skills as the prerequisite for Certification and should be issuing monthly progress reports to project owners to be tracked by NCC.
    4. No Contractor should…

    • … be awarded new contracts unless there total previous and limited Government contracts reaches 90-95% of completion.
      5. All conditions and terms of the contracts must be adhered to to the later by culprit gymnastic Government and reactional usually incompetent Contractors.
      The list can be endless.
      Isn’t the honeymoon over, 55 years of independence? I believe most of these points are laid down but walking the talk or the written remains a haphazard affair.
      Foreigners should not be putting up structures for us unless such are megastructures bane.

    • A 1 year 6 months project taking 5 years and by far remains incomplete, is by far a failed project.
      Who taught you project management? It’s high time we quit playing cousins and friends with work. Work like the Chinese.

  7. Firstly blacklist that useless contractor. Secondly who inspected the building to issue a certificate of completion in order to pay this contractor the full contract price. The inspector at buildings department who issued the certificate of completion is corrupt and I think blind too and contractee and contractor are corrupt too. What I know in contracts is that the contractor gets paid according to the percentage of completion of work done, and even then a small percentage called retention money is withheld to protect the contractee who is the government in case of shoddy or unsatisfactory work done by the contractor. Having paid this contractor all the money without him finishing the job is puzzling indeed. This is what is killing the reputation of local contractors.

  8. Ubomba Mwibala gets all the contracts! How can us commoners compete with ba PS, ba Minister and the rest? Apart from hefty salaries of over K80,000 each, they muscle their way and get contracts meant for us commoners! It’s Double Tobela for sure. I miss KK who made sure those in public office had no chance of registering companies or getting GRZ tenders! That’s the code we need. Trust me, if we enacted this code, political violence and murders would be a thing of the past!

  9. Jobs, Contacts for, praise singers, storm troopers, goons & cadres.
    THIS IS UNPRECEDENTED DEVELOPMENT UNDER BA JONA’S MORALLY BANKRUPT P.F. PARTY!!

  10. IN PF GOVERNMENT IT NORMAL FOR PROJECTS TO GO BEYOND THE STIPULATED TIME,A FAILED LEADER CAN BE KNOWN FROM HIS FAILURES.HOW MANY NEWLY CREATED DISTRICTS HAVE BEEN FINISHED DESPITE TREASURERY RELEASING FUNDS.MOST THE NEWLY CREATED DISTRICTS ARE EITHER AT SLAB LEVEL OR AT WINDOW LEVEL.ANOTHER EXAMPLE IS THE EURO BOND BORROWED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF ZAMBIA UNDER PRESIDENT EDGAR CHAGWA LUNGU TO REHABILITATE THE RAILWAY LINE UP TO NOW THAT PROJECT IS DISCHARGED IN THE DUSTBIN , THE PRESIDENT AND HIS CABINET ARE MUTE AS IF NOTHING OF THAT VENTURE WAS AT ONE TIME ON THEIR LIPS.

  11. Let me state a self-evident law: for very borrowed dollar borrowed by the PF, 63 cents is stolen.

    This a law as in the natural sciences or a theorem in mathematics.

  12. Lungu is humble and the the best President to ever grace the political landscape. In Lungu we have a God fearing President who even declared a day of National Prayer just so that Zambians could dedicate a whole day of fasting and Prayer. On top of all this he was chosen by God, we can not go against Gods choice people of Zambia. Let us all vote Lungu come 2021
    Ifintu Ni LUNGU

  13. Lungu is humble and the the best President to ever grace the political landscape. In Lungu we have a God fearing President who even declared a day of National Prayer just so that Zambians could dedicate a whole day of fasting and Prayer. On top of all this he was chosen by God, we can not go against Gods choice, people of Zambia let us all vote Lungu come 2021
    Ifintu Ni LUNGU

  14. This Lusambo thing also. Kubwatabwatafye without thinking. Doesn’t know that that amounts to insurbordination.
    This is enough reason to dismiss it.

  15. uubomba mwibala ……..mwibala THE PS HAD HIS COMPANY IN EXISTENCE BEFORE BEING APPOINTED PS SO WHAT THE HELL U ARE SAYING ? ALSO NCC HAS NO MANDATE TO ARREST ME ELO NKOMFWE NAIUMBI ATI IS GOT PAID FOR THE WHOLE CONTRACT SUM ..AND U BELIEVE THAT point at ANY ONE PROJECT IN ZAMBIA THAT IS PREPAID 100%, IF YOU GET one then I WAS ALSO PAID AFULUNYEMBA IMWE

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