Friday, March 29, 2024

Fred M’membe calls for the cancellation of a contract awarded to Grant Thornton

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Socialist Party (SP) Leader Dr. Fred M’membe has called for the cancellation of a contract awarded to Grant Thornton to audit the country’s defence and security wings.

Speaking at a media briefing in Lusaka yesterday, Dr M’membe said the mentioned contract is neither in the best interest of good governance nor the security of the country.

And Dr M’membe has condemned the growing trend, where entities associated with the UPND top leadership seem to always get the favours, adding that the contract award, points to the emerging pattern of President Hakainde Hichilema’s government directing business to companies he has or has had relationships with and foreign companies being given preference over local ones.

“We must be reminded that Mr Hichilema was one of the Directors of Grant Thornton, the firm that was instrumental in the privatization of Zambian state-owned companies. And today, we see Grant Thornton being granted access to audit our Countries security wings.

“In the process, even critical national security concerns are blantantly being ignored. This is very dangerous and totally unacceptable,” Dr M’membe.

The Socialist Party leader said that the decision taken by the current Government is an act of mistrust in the capacity and integrity of the public audit system.
He says there is also a high cost associated with hiring international private audit firms.

Dr M’membe has therefore questioned the UPND Government if the local audit firms were overlooked because of being incompetent or it was the usual style of preferring foreign entities to the locals.

“Whatever the shortcomings of the current audit system are, the decision taken by Mr Hichilema and his UPND government does not help to strengthen the public audit system,” he said.

“The Zambian people would like to know, how much will this audit cost us? Are we saying that the Auditor General’s Office is incompetent? If so, was this contract floated to other local audit firms? Did our local audit firms not qualify? Or are they also incompetent? Or is this again about the UPND government’s insatiable appetite for foreign companies,’’ Dr M’membe stated.

He has since reminded the UPND Government that they are not in government to benefit themselves and their associates but to benefit all Zambians.

25 COMMENTS

  1. I agree with Fred for once. We need to stop this immediately and demand for an inquiry into how this contract was awarded.

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    • Anyone including an under Five can see this contract award, points to the emerging pattern of President Hakainde Hichilema’s government directing business to companies he has or has had relationships with- CORRUPTION and NEPOTISM

  2. Hahaha that boy hh thought he was clever. He thinks he is the only educated man in zambia. Trying to pull a fast one. His upnd supporters are very dwanzy. He thought all Zambians are like that. We are coming after him and those two gay cadre praise singers of his

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  3. Nowadays, any contract given out by govt, opposition calls for its cancellation. When non is given, opposition calls the UPND names and having failed to govern. Just look around and you will agree with me. M sure, the criminal gang called PF, wants contracts to be awarded to them because this is what they used to do. So, just ignore their calls, they are just distractors

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    • Iwe niwe wofunta? Which country audits it’s defense ministry with a foreign auditing firm? You want us to agree with everything King Hakainde decrees? This isn’t Swaziland We have three pillars of governance. The presidency is just one of them

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    • The auditor general was bypassed and the contract was signed at the Ministry of Finance. The AG has even distanced himself from the dirty deal.

  4. It’s a purely financial audit intended to establish the money trail, reasonableness of prices the government was charged and if wht was paid for was delivered, if not find out why. The auditors are not out to ask operational questions. If money was stolen under the guise security cover, that’s not in the interest of Zambia. If information about possession of certain military equipment is the worry, that is unfounded because it’s actually available already in defence periodicals.

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  5. Stop the contract , who will stop it? Your mother? the contracts that supposed to be stopped are the ones that you PF cadres gave to yourselves, e.g Chitalu Chilufya, Bowman Lusambo, Edgar Lungu , Tasila Mukula Lungu etc.

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  6. Now I understand that there is no credible opposition in Zambia and those PF cadres hiding in UK, they deliberately did not take their leader to hospital in time, because that was what they wanted. When they flew him to Israel, they refused to put him to drip to gain strength before operation, instead they decided to fly to London. That is what they politics. Scotland Yard will catch up with you.

  7. During the same briefing I heard Fred say the SP will reverse most of these decisions when they takeover Govt in 2026. Painful as it may be, I wish to frankly tell my brother that he’s pulling in the wrong direction. It’s very unlikely that the SP will ever rule this country and if by some miracle that happens it’ll be a disaster. Socialism has never worked anywhere, and that includes Cuba. China can’t be an example because there’s nothing communist or socialist about her. China tried communism for over 50yrs without success but when they met WTO conditions around 1998 they’ve been unstoppable. WTO conditions are capitalist in nature and that’s why China isn’t a communist State. Communism only exists in the manner they choose their leaders

  8. I do not see any security problem with the financial audit. The Zambian people need to know exactly how much money was spent on defence and security procurements in the PF years. We need to know how the Generals were able to build flats from their salaries. We need to know how the Gulfstream jet ended up costing so much more. We need to know. I think that the people who benefitted from the graft are worried and the security factor is just a ruse.

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  9. as a tax payer i see no reason why this Audit should no go ahead if GT has the expertise to do this Audit and no consititution matters are against this Audit. what are people scared of?. this Audit is a financial one and not a operational one..ati security risk LOL

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    • So far all the objections i have seen are not against the audit but the auditor. They are quite sensible. Upnd should just soberly look at the issue and get the right auditor

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  10. “…..We must be reminded that Mr Hichilema was one of the Directors of Grant Thornton, the firm that was instrumental in the…..”

    So because a manager went to UNZA, is it corruption if a consultancy contract is awarded to UNZA ?????

    Childish reasoning……….

    We are about to witness some bomb shell corruption revelations concerning lungu and PF which could not be revealed or investigated due to the secrecy act…………

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  11. While I totally agree with Fred Mmembe, on the issue of foreign firms auditing our security wings books, in the same vein he needs to apologise to the Zambian people for having published in his defunct “Post News paper” national security information during Chiluba’s error. It was wrong then and it is wrong now. Hakainde needs to be stopped one way or the other. He does not have the interest of the nation at heart. He is thirst for more and more money. He cannot be allowed to shrewd continue to rape this country with impunity. Who does take Zambians for? He keeps exonerating himself from the ills of privatisation of our national assets. And now he is back with vengeance to mortgage the whole country.

  12. Ati security threat, which security threat. How people like exaggerating things in Zambia. And you want to agree with these parties which overate themselves and when elections come it is zero after zero

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  13. Stop being dumb for the sake of Upnd. We all know that a director in a company is influential. The analogy You re struggling to compare it with is flimsy.
    A student at Unza plays little or no part in its capital management or in steering its business strategies. The senate and the v chancellor will have clauses in their contracts that are pertinent to competitors, not the student.

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