Presidential Spokesperson Anthony Bwalya says President Hakainde Hichilema has embarked on the reformation of the public procurement of the country.
And Mr Bwalya stresses that the recent revelations by the Auditor General’s Report on the non-compliance to procurement procedures by the past regime has irked the Head of State.
Addressing the Press at State House this afternoon, Mr Bwalya stated that President Hichilema has guided that all Government procurement agencies adheres to Circular Number 4 of 2021 issued by Cabinet office on the procurement of goods and services, warning of consequences to those who would disregard the guidelines.
“The President’s long standing view is that in order for us to expand and expedite the delivery of social and economic dividends for the Zambian people, we must eliminate the feud of public procurement feud. To this effect, the President has provided guidance and leadership on this matter and this leadership and guidance stands and follows: that all public procurement of goods and services and roads must be applied for and meet these three basic requirements: 1, the right price; 2, value for money and 3, quality and timely delivery of these public goods and services. To this effect, Cabinet office has since issued Circular Number of 2021 which compels all Government Procurement Agencies to comply with the above guidelines,” he said.
He stated that the President was worried that wasteful expenditure of public resources and the rise in the failure by Government procurement Agencies in the past 3 years was robbing the general citizenry of services such as clean drinking water, education facilities, health care and job opportunities.
“From the Auditor General’s Report for 31st December, 2020, two (2) issues stand out: number one, the failure to follow tender procedures-this has spiked from K524, 500 in 2019 to a figure of K234, 700, 094 on 2020. Number 2: Wasteful expenditure has risen from a figure of K3, 730, 964 in 2019 to K1, 407, 521, 520 by 2021. The country aims incidentally the Zambian people are losing money and opportunities for jobs; public health care; education and sanitation among several others,” he charged.
He warned that the President would not sit and watch while public servants continued to rob marginalised Zambians of a better future, charging that there would be consequences to those who would be found wanting.
“There will be consequences as far as abrogation of Circular Number 4 issued by Cabinet office. Further to that the ZPPA through the Auditor General has also been guided to expedite the completion of the price benchmarking of tender in line with Section 45 (2) of the Public Procurement Act. That they also must publish on a quarterly basis the price of tenders in line with Section 12 (2) and Subsection 3 of the Public Procurement Act. Now…let me emphasize that the President means business on the need to reform how public procurement works. Those who will disregard the President’s guidance on the need for reform of public procurement should work in this country…I must mention that there will be consequences as as been outlined in Circular Number 4 of 2021 issued by Cabinet Office,” he charged.
Meanwhile, COVID Advisor to the President Hichilema, Dr Roma Chilengi stressed that the impending 4th wave of the novel coronavirus that is anticipated.
“The President is clear that while we have a clear economic recovery plan. We need a large proportion of our population vaccinated as that is the only way to prevent further infections during the 4th wave of the coronavirus,” he charged.
He stated that it was, however imperative that citizens do not take the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions by the Ministry of Health last week as a leeway to start abrogating the COVID-19 golden rules such as social distancing, sanitizing, and regular handwashing.
“The lifting of some of the restrictions over the COVID-19 recently is a sign that the pandemic infections are going down. But that doesn’t mean that citizens should now relax the observation of the golden rules of the COVID-19
Dr Chiengi, who pointed out that the new Dawn Administration had set 10 percent of the country’s population in its first vaccination phase, has since appealed to Zambians from all walks of life to take the issue of vaccination against COVID-19 seriously.
And as a way of mitigating the impending 4th wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Hichilema is tomorrow set to grace the relaunch of the coronavirus vaccination campaign at a venue to be announced.
Those resisting procurement reforms are the fat cats who corruptly gained from the rotten PF regime wisely thrown out by Zambian voters.
Of course we all know that corruPFtion fights back very hard bcoz that was their lifeline for “empowerment funds”
There seems to be no correlation between Sylvia Masebo’s announcement to relax COVID-19 restrictions and the sentiments by Roma Chilengi. Dr Chilengi has indicated that only about 3% of the eligible adult population has been vaccinated. This is a very sorry state of affairs because the impact of the 4th wave on those that haven’t taken the vaccines will overshadow the small number of those that have been inoculated. So in whose interest have the restrictions been relaxed? What I expect is now a mandatory vaccination for all workers as a start, then business houses like banks must now demand production of vaccine certificates as opposed to masks. We expect queues at banks to reduce as those who meet conditions must begin to enjoy the benefits by not queuing for long hours just to deposit…
Welcome to the real world. Disregard of procedures was there in Unip, MMD, PF and will be there in Upnd government. It’s not only In government but even in the mines and other companies. The biggest culprit is the PUBLIC that you are trying to protect including those here trying to accuse other people of corruption. How did songs like ponya pansi, nichekeleko, ukwikala mulusaka kukwataumutwe come about. We tried it in our company and the same suppliers we were protecting were the ones that gave tips to our buyers how to circumvent the new system.
The problem in Zambia we don’t coordinate, integrate and align things. We operate things in silos. Everything is connected, from behaviours cultivated at home to school to the place of work. The culture; jobs; law enforcement agencies; the people issuing directives. Be transparent and instil a culture that public service is more of a sacrifice than a ‘get rich quick’ outing. Close the loopholes; get banks involved; sing songs at school; reward good behaviour. It won’t take 5 years to eliminate corruption… it will take a generational change of culture.
Start with the transparency of politicians… publish their salaries and eliminate the ‘allowance’ culture (travel and meetings should be embedded in their contracts). Make the procurement process transparent and balance the…
…Make the procurement process transparent and balance the technical performance/quality, cost and schedule in procurement of goods and services. Everything is connected with everything.
Until Zambians genuinely believe in their hearts of hearts that corruption is worse than homosexuality and actually abhor it so much that it is not just the fear of being arrested when found, we will be singing this corruption song for a long time!
Get the clergy to start preaching about it; make movies and songs about it to show why it is wrong and how it affects ordinary people.
You have to get rid of all Procurement officers or do an audit on their lifestyle…you can not have the same officers moonlighting for contractors to write their bids for GRZ contracts. Get rid of all heads of these departments
Threats and warnings for the next 5 years….I told you guys….Garbage in Garbage out……nothing has changed do his UPND minions have continued the trend….and where are the jobs for the youths
YAAAAAWN . BOOORING. SAME THREATS NO ACTION BADAAALA GET TO WORK. You promised us heaven on earth not constant threats
Its good to be in this government. Those cadres on this platforms that used to post insults are now broke. They just come on once a week due to lack of K5 to buy so che bundles. Boma inyanganeko Kaizer adzafa ndi njala.
Cyber security bill could have hit us bad if they went through. Lesa Musuma.
Jst fire iwe , power is in your hands now. Remember how they never listened to you? Fire them, they ll complain and go to court yes but atleast you ve fired them and they ll leave. And at end of day government always wins anyway
Mr true fuseke. Some of us are now very busy concentrating on our businesses and making money only you can dream about.
What Ayatollah said and..
What Jigga Kayama Simangulungwa (formerly Corruption scandals: 48 Houses Social Security Cash Luxury Presidential Jet Ambulances Fire Trucks Mukula Trees Ndola-Lusaka Rd Malawi Maizegate Fuelgate Swaziland landgate Zesco Loans Honeybee) said
Jigga Kayama Simangulungwa (formerly Corruption scandals: 48 Houses Social Security Cash Luxury Presidential Jet Ambulances Fire Trucks Mukula Trees Ndola-Lusaka Rd Malawi Maizegate Fuelgate Swaziland landgate Zesco Loans Honeybee)
How can you scare a thief to stop stealing when his livelihood depends on embezzlements? There is enough evidence on all above cases. When are you going to stop talking and start acting?