Speaker of the National Assembly Nellie Mutti has reserved ruling on a point of order raised by Mufulira Member of Parliament Golden Mwila who wanted to know whether Bwana Mkubwa is in order to continue chairing the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) when his company Balaam Limited has been implicated in the irregular supply of facemasks to the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU).
On Monday, Mr. Mwambazi instructed DMMU National Coordinator Dr. Gabriel Pollen to get hold of his predecessor Chanda Kabwe by whatever means possible to explain to the Committee why companies affiliated to PF cadres received supply contracts for COVID-19 items.
In her briefing ruling on the point of order, Mrs. Mutti said she will have to conduct a thorough investigation of what is going on in the Public Accounts Committee and render a ruling on the matter.
Yesterday, information emerged that Chairman of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee Warren Mwambazi’s company Balaam Ltd is one of the firms that supplied Face masks to the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Some senior officers from the Ministry of Health who opted to remain anonymous have revealed that Mr. Mwambazi’s company known as Balaam Limited was awarded three contracts by the Ministry of Health to supply DMMU with Covid-19 items valued at over K14 million.
“We are shocked that Hon. Mwambazi is now championing audits of the Covid-19 supply contracts when his own company Balaam Ltd received three contracts at over K14 million to supply Facemasks, PPPs, and Thermometers in very suspicious circumstances,” the sources said.
The sources added,” he used the same company to get another Covid-19 tender at ZESCO valued at over K700,000. We don’t understand why he is using PAC to embarrass his own friends who supplied to DMMU when he also did,” they said.
They accused Mr. Mwambazi of turning the PAC hearings into a tool for embarrassing officials from the previous administration.
“You know that Hon. Mwambazi was in PF until he was left out of the adoption process but before that, he used his friends in the party to get numerous contracts just like everyone else.”
They have since challenged Mr. Mwambazi to declare an interest when matters of DMMU and Covid-19 response are brought before the Committee hearings.
“He cannot continue chairing those meetings when he is clearly conflicted. PAC is a very important institution and we cannot have a Chairman who is compromised, the sources stated.
If Mwambazi really supplied these masks, it’s because he was a PF member before he went solo.
Nobody has been implicated, it is not a scandal for the PAC chair to have supplied masks, where there are scandals are were items were not supplied to specifications and prices were manipulated, already sensationalizing issues
I think there is no scandal but the probe must still be there because remember he was PF and remember PF was the mother of all evil in our country
Could this be the reason Mwambazi is rumored to want to defect to the UPND?
#4 if he defects then there will be a by election which is a waste of public resources.
He should be scrutinised. Check the price at which the masks were quoted at.Is is registered to supply medical thermometers?
Being to hard on your friends when even you are compromised.
Not only him….most members there have skeletons. I dont know if there is a way of scrutinising before people are appointed to such committees.
We are being vindicated that nothing good came from PF regime without being infected by its immoral decadency. Afraid more will come to light and grassing each other to save one’s skin has began. These are positive signs the chief ‘Koswe’ will be smoked out of the hole. Meantime, former DMMU boss, faking sickness Chanda Kabwe used to sell disaster materials (milie-meal, rice, maize, tents etc) to Malawi through Lumezi DC Mulenga then, food/materials meant for floods victims in Malambo valley of Eastern province. ACC work for you.
Just for the people to have confidence in the PAC he should step aside in the meantime until this issue is dealt with.
Hon. Warren Mwambazi is just opening a can of worms and he should not pretend to be very smart. Everyone knows where he is coming from. The best he can do is to the ” Mwikala patalala” option or else lies will catch with him.
Allow the Speaker to make a ruling over the matter.