Vice President Mutale Nalumango has defended the awarding of contracts to Grant Thornton Zambia and Price Water House Coopers to audit the Zambia Defence forces.
Patriotic Front Members of Parliament who include leader of the opposition in Parliament Brian Mundubile, Mutotwe Kafwaya, Stephen Kampyongo and George Chisenga expressed concern with alleged failure to tender the contract given to the two companies, exposing secret military information to private entities and the political interest that some politicians have in the companies awarded the contracts.
Responding to concerns during the Vice President’s question time, Mrs. Nalumango said that there is nothing wrong with the Auditor General’s Office to contract grant Thornton and price water house coopers as the law allows the auditor general’s office to sub-contract.
Mrs Nalumango who could not say whether the right procedure was followed in granting the contract to the two companies however says she believes the auditor general’s office followed the law.
She further said the findings from the audit will form part of the auditor general’s report which will be taken to parliament for scrutiny.
And Shiwang’andu MP Stephen Kampyongo has said that PF is not just going to sit back and allow constitutional breaches which are being done with impunity go on. Speaking when he and other PF MPs addressed the media at Parliament yesterday, Hon Kampyongo said the scam of hiring private auditors to audit public institutions will not be left unchecked because it is a constitutional matter.
The Lawmaker said the office of the Auditor General is provided for in the Constitution adding that any other entity which wants to do anything to audit public institutions must follow the procedure as provided for by law.
“So we will be waiting for the Auditor General to make his position known because we haven’t seen him publish any adverts to engage private auditors to audit public institutions because that is their mandate as assigned by the constitution,” he said.
And Hon Kampyongo scorned government for celebrating “70%” success in the fight against Covid-19. The Lawmaker said the New Dawn Administration found Covid-19 already under control.
“We heard them still bragging about the 70% success against Covid. I don’t think with their current broken down health systems, they could have achieved that. That achievement is more to do with the measures they found in place of fighting the Covid,” he said.
“They found Covid was already under control and so they can’t be the ones to brag about the success. Let them focus on dealing with the pertinent matters. You can’t leave that from the amount we approved for the health sector. Probably only 20% has been spent. In the meantime, people have been dying. So these are matters that we shall be dealing with when the Minsitry of health comes because we have got lives of our citizens to protect and preserve.”
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