Government didn’t abrogate law concerning private audit firm-Kawana

Ministry of Information and Media Director Spokesperson, Thabo Kawana, has refuted claims that the government broke the law when it engaged a private audit firm to audit defense and security accounts.

Mr Kawana told journalists at a media briefing today that the purported audit firm seeks to clarify the debts and claims that are being made to individual ministries.

He dared the people aggrieved to go to court if they felt that the law was broken.

Mr Kawana clarified that what the private audit firm is doing is not overall audit as claimed per se but a verification exercise that seeks to authenticate the claims made by some individuals and clarify the debts the individual ministries owe.

He said there is need for the government to clarify the huge debts which were incurred.

Mr Kawana further clarified that the audit is for all the ministries, adding that the Auditor General cannot do the work alone.

“The private audit firm is not here to audit the ministries but to verify what has been audited. There are six other audit firms that were engaged to verify and clarify particular issues of particular interests by the government,” he clarified.

And The questions that are being raised over that issue require specific answers and citation of the law so that the nation can be briefed, Hon Raphael Nakacinda has added his voice to the heated up debate regarding the private firms contracted by the UPND government to audit security wings.

The PF Chairperson for Information and Publicity has wondered if the decision to have private auditing firm audit the defense force was made by President Hakainde Hichilema.

Hon Nakacinda said the provisions government is relying on only go to show or demonstrate that if there is going to be any private firm that is allowed to be given a contract to audit the defense force it should go with the express permission of the President.

He said this when he addressed the media at Lusaka’s Magistrate Court grounds today.

“And if the President is the one that gave that permission to have private firms like the Grant Thornton, which he had clear interest as the Managing partner and we can only speculate the interest that he still has in that firm,” he said.

“It speaks to clear abuse of authority if that is the position. So we are probing the ministry of finance because there is no provision in the law to have the minister contract a private firm without the involvement of the Auditor General.”

Meanwhile, Hon Nakacinda bemoaned the brutality being championed by the police under the watch of the UPND government.

He said the brutality that EEP leader Chilufya Tayali faced is an introduction of the UPND’s nature.

“We also have this issue that has emerged of torture and brutality against political party leaders. It is in public domain, streamed live, how he was treated, the night that he was arrested and how he was brutalized and tortured by the police. We want to call upon the international community to follow through these matters,” he said.

“This is basically an introduction, where we are headed to, the true colors and nature and characteristics of the UPND and their leader is going to manifest in full force. Today its opposition political party leaders, tomorrow it will be you the media, next thing it will just be an ordinary citizen. If they express themselves in a particular way, they will end up being tortured if not eliminated.”

The PF MCC called for concerted effort from all stakeholders in curbing the brutality and many other bad vices under the New Dawn Administration.