Speaker of the National Assembly Patrick Matibini has commended the office of the Auditor General for providing parliament with independent and objective information on how government spends public funds.

And Auditor-General Anne Chifungula has pledged that her office will continue equipping parliamentarians and their staff with necessary tools that will effectively and efficiently deal with issues of public finance accountability.

Dr. Matibini said since parliament approves government’s expenditure in every financial year, there was need for it to on behalf of the people to hold the executive accountable on the management of the public resources.

He said this when he officially opened a week long sensitization workshop for Members of Parliament on the work of the Auditor General in Lusaka today.

He praised the office of the Auditor General for tabling before the house performance audit reports that give the legislature an insight into the quality of decisions undertaken by government.

Dr. Matibini has since implored the Auditor General to continue upholding the highest standards of performance in the production of audit reports that will enable parliament perform effectively.

Earlier, Auditor General Anne Chifungula said her office will continue equipping parliamentarians and their staff with necessary tools for them to effectively and efficiently deal with issues of public finance accountability.

Ms. Chifungula said her office has invited Auditor Generals from Tanzania and Zimbabwe to come and share their experiences with the Zambian law makers.

She pointed out that the workshop will also provide members of parliament with a clear appreciation of the different roles played by her office, Accountant General’s Office and Office of the Controller of Internal Audits.

The workshop has attracted Members of Parliament from the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Local Government, Health and many others.

ZANIS

Lusaka High Court Judge Charles Kajimanga has dismissed the case in which Finance Bank Zambia (FBZ) Limited had sued Flame Promotions and Procurement (FPP) Limited and its director Mohamed Abdelefattah Salama over a debt of over US264 000 and K 1.8billion.

FBZ as the plaintiff in the matter had sued FPP and Mr Salama as the first and second defendants and was seeking a relief that the money lent to the latter stood at US$264,328.28 as at September 30, 2011 in respect of account number 0010303222006 and K1,867,448,390 in respect of account 0013033220012.

But the defendants believed that FBZ conduct in raising matters in these proceedings which could have been litigated upon amounts to forum shopping or multiplicity of actions. FPP and Mr Salama applied to court to dismiss FBZ action for abuse of court process.

Delivering ruling, Judge Kajimanga was of the firm opinion that the action was an abuse of the court process.

“In the final analysis, I conclude that this application has merit, the plaintiffs action is accordingly dismissed for being an abuse of the court process,” he said

Judge Kajimanga said that it was plain from the above that apart from Mr Mahtani and Mr Salama who do not appear in all the three cases, the parties are substantially the same and that above all it was worth noting that in all the three cases the subject matter of the dispute was the same namely account numbers 0013032220012, 001302333001 and 0010303222006.

“In my opinion, this state of affairs buttresses the defendants argument which I find credible that the plaintiffs claims in this matter could have and can be claimed in cause numbers 2011/HP/1124 and 2011/HP/1126.

To maintain this matter on the cause list will undoubtedly result in a multiplicity of actions which courts deprecate because of the obvious risk of conflicting judgments being rendered on the same subject matter,” said the Judge.

funds drawn from account 0010303222006 in the name of the plaintiffs that were drawn using instruments purportedly signed by Zulfikar Patel.

However, FPP deposed that the process in both matters was duly served on FBZ and that the action by FBZ could have been raised and litigated upon in earlier proceedings by FBZ by way of counter claim as opposed to fresh proceedings which deal with the same subject matter.

Locci SRI Limited managing director, Antonello Locci today appeared before a Lusaka magistrate Court but could not take
plea as his co-accused, Andrew Banda was not before court. Locci 73, a business executive is jointly charged with Banda, who is former President Rupiah Banda’s son, for the offence of gratification for giving assistance with regard to contracts, contrary to section 28(1) (a) (i) as read with section 40 of the Anti Corruption Commission Act 308 of 2010 of the Laws of Zambia.

Particulars of the offence were that Banda, on dates unknown but between 1st September, 2010 and December, 2011 in Lusaka, being a public officer namely first secretary to the Zambian Embassy in Italy and later deputy high commissioner to India corruptly solicited and agreed to receive two percent of all the payments made to Fratelli Locci SRI Limited by the Road Development Agency (RDA) and did receive K121,065,700, K30,000,000 and K20,000,000 from Locci as an inducement or regard for himself for having given assistance to Locci, managing director of Fratelli Locci SRI Limited in the reward of contracts with RDA, a matter or transaction concerning the RDA, a public body.

It was alleged in the second count that Locci, on unknown dates but between 1st September 2010 and 31st December 2011, in Lusaka agreed to give gratification to Banda amounting to two percent of all monies paid to Fratelli by RDA and did actually pay the sums of K121, 065,700, K30, 000, 000 and K20, 000, 000 to the said Banda, a public officer for having given assistance to the said Locci, managing director of Fratelli in the award of contracts with the RDA a matter or transaction concerning the RDA, a public body.

Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Mutembo Nchito who is leading other prosecutors from the ACC told Lusaka Magistrate Chief Resident, Joshua Banda that Locci who was the second accused was appearing in court for the first time but ideally should have appeared together with Banda.

Mr Nchito said that was so because Banda who had already been charged with the offence and was on bond was scheduled to take plea on 3rd August 2012.

He said it was however agreed with Locci’s defence lawyers Sakwiba Sikota, Jack Mwiimbu and a Dr O Banda that there was no harm in Locci taking plea while Banda would do so on Friday.

But Magistrate Banda ordered for the two accused persons to take plea on the same date.

Meanwhile Locci’s defence lawyers have asked the court to grant bail to their client because he was ailing and keeping him in custody would deteriorate his condition.

Mr Sikota said that his client was of fixed abode as he was resident at the offices of his firm situated at Mpulungu number six in Olympia Township.

He said that his client had been in custody since Tuesday when he was arrested because the investigation officers refused to give him bond despite the provisions of Section 33 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) which stipulated that if a person was not granted bond, he should appear in court within 24 hours.

He said that his client was not a freight risk as he had already handed over his passport to the ACC officers and was willing to provide sureties adding that his client had excessive business interests in Zambia which he could not afford to abandon.

Mr Sikota said that his aged client has been admitted to University Teaching Hospital (UTH) and was still admitted to hospital.

“The accused person is advanced in age and was not in good health the court could see for itself how frail his client was looking and keeping him in custody would be detrimental to his health and would be extremely harsh in view of the way he had conducted himself by reporting before investigation officers whenever needed,” Mr Sikota said.

But Mr Nchito objected to the application saying Locci was of no fixed abode as he kept on changing resident from one country to another and even when in Zambia, he was staying at hotels other than the suggested place by his defence lawyers.

Magistrate Banda reserved ruling to tomorrow when Locci and Banda were expected to appear for plea.

The crime wave is still haunting residents of Lusaka’s Matero constituency barely two weeks after NIPA Student Ruth Mbandu was brutally murdered in the same constituency.

This time around in Matero East a twenty-seven year old woman, Sharon Tembo, was discovered dead with her throat slit open, prompting residents’ outcries on lack of police patrols.

The residents are unhappy with the increasing crime in the area calling on the police top command to intensify night patrols.

Recently Matero Member of Parliament, Miles Sampa offered 15 Million Kwacha to anyone with information leading to the arrest of slain NIPA Student Ruth Mbandu’s killers.

She was brutally murdered in Emmasdale in Matero Constituency, a compound known for sophiscated crime.

And in a fresh development, A 27 year old woman of Matero Township in Lusaka has been murdered in unclear circumstances as she was coming from her hair salon around 22.00 hours on Saturday night.

Both the father to the deceased, Damson Tembo and Police Spokesperson Charity Chanda confirmed the incident in Lusaka yesterday saying police have arrested her husband as the murder suspect.

Sharon Tembo is believed to have been killed around 22.00 hours near her home when she was coming from her salon and managed to enter the house and lay on the bed after which she told her husband to take her to the clinic.

Police confirmed that the husband to the victim had been charged with murder in relation to the unclear circumstances of the killing.

“We have arrested the husband to the victim whose name we are withholding and charged him with murder,” said Ms Chanda.

The father to the victim said he received a call around 23.00 hours from the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) that her daughter had been taken there with injuries and later around 23.30 hours while on the way to the hospital he received another call informing him that she had died.

“When I reached the hospital they showed me the body of my daughter which was at the Brought In Dead (BID) section and after checking it, I saw that she had a wound on the forehead as if she was hit with a metal bar and she also had a deep cut in the neck,” Mr Tembo said.

He said according to the information that was given to him by a named friend to her slain daughter, Sharon had knocked off from her workplace (salon) and entered the house with her handbag and other parcels she was carrying.

Upon entering the house, she went straight to the bedroom where she lay on the bed before telling her husband to take her to the clinic because she was bleeding profusely from the neck.

“The husband and his uncle carried her from the house and they were met outside by a friend to the victim who was passing by and helped the two gentlemen to put Sharon in the taxi and took her to Matero Referral clinic (Chingwere clinic),” narrated Sharon’s father.

Mr Tembo said the friend told him that they were referred to UTH and that Sharon was declared dead upon arrival.

Meanwhile, Matero Member of Parliament Miles Sampa has appealed to the police high command in the province to pay extra attention to Matero constituency and protect the residents of the area.

“I am appealing to the police high command to continue with their good work but add a little more effort to curb crime in the area. It is not acceptable to have murders every week for the past four months,” Mr Sampa said.

He appealed to energetic Matero residents to volunteer as neighbourhood watch association members and help supplement the work of the police in the area.

The MP said neighbourhood watch associations should be resuscitated in all the five wards in Matero.

“We are resuscitating the neighbourhood watch associations and I am appealing to the young men with energy to come and register at the constituency office and after that the volunteers will have to be cleared by the police to avoid harbouring criminals in the associations,” he said.

Recently a 19 year old Ruth Mbandu, who was a National Institute for Public Administration (NIPA) student was murdered in cold-blood on July 13, 2012 and had her face ripped off by her assailants.

Already police have charged three people with murder namely, George Kalomo, her uncle, of Kabanana Township, Archbishop Evans Ngulube 48, of New Mount Zion Spirit Church and his recently arrested driver, Stanley Munkonji.

Others were two men from Kanyama who were found in possession of the victim’s phone and had been detained in custody to help police with further investigations.