Mundubile sees through UPND mischief

… He says the removal of experienced senior auditors at the ministry of finance is meant to facilitate the covering up of the UPND financial abuses in the 2022 national budget.

By Francis Maingaila 

Lusaka (17-02-2023-Zambia24) - The opposition Patriotic Front (PF) has not only expressed serious concerns over what is happening at the ministry of finance and national planning where experienced officers have been transferred based on an illegal audit report but also vowed to protect the office the auditor general from being undermined by the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) alliance government.
Leader of the opposition in the house Brian Mundubile told journalists at a media briefing on Friday afternoon at the parliament building that has taken a keen interest in the manner the government has swiftly acted to transfer experienced officers accused of misappropriation of funds that are undergoing investigations.
He said the removal of experienced staff at the ministry of finance is not only aimed at preventing the auditor general from exposing financial scandals taking place in the UPND New Dawn Administration but also ensuring the institutionalized corruption comes to an end henceforth.
Mundubile explained that there is panic in the new dawn administration after realizing that the auditor general will expose all the illegality taking place in the government under the UPND but vowed the opposition PF will not go to sleep to protect the institution of governance are protected from abuse.
He said the PF will not allow the illegality happening at the ministry of finance designed at impairing the office of the auditor general to continue because will render the work of parliament null and void.
He observed that the period under consideration is the period covering 2022 which is the time the UPND government has been in charge.
He said entering into panic mode and does not want the auditor general's office to produce a credible audit report.
He said the UPND is sabotaging the process so that the audit report as was observed, is more directed at the movement of experienced staff.
And Mundubile said the sabotage that is happening at the auditor general's office is not right because this is one of the watchdog bodies which must be safeguarded.
As parliamentarians, we rely on the reports from the auditor general's office to provide oversight on government functions, which is one of the core functions of Parliament.
Unless the auditor general report heights the procurement of fertilizers the overpriced contract of fertilizers, a contract which should have gone for 35 million that went for 50 million, the PF will not accept the auditor general's report.
He also wants to see the procurement and cancellation of the $100 million contract highlighted.
He said the auditor general should have minimum expectations of certain things which the people want to see.
For instance, he explained. the illegal contraction of private auditing firms to audit defense and intelligence wings should be seen in the auditors' general's report.
"So to a new dawn administration in as much as you'd want to adulterate this auditor's report as members of parliament, who are charged with the responsibility to God the safeguards we have been with expectations and we shall take the Auditor General to task if at all some of these reports that were violated, are not contained in your report."
He said the PF will not sit idle and let the government continue with the maladministration.
Should the report highlighted not appear in the will report will force parliament to take to task the office of the auditor general.
He said sabotaging the office of the auditor general is the highest form of corruption because it is meant to prevent the people from knowing what is happening in the government.
And Opposition Patriotic Front (PF) chief whip Stephen Kampyongo disclosed that parliament depends on other arms of government, like the Auditor General to perform well.

He said the auditor general with the transfer of senior and experienced officers at the ministry of finance will be crippled.
Kampyongo said the law provides that any act that is designed ar undermining the operation of the auditor general violates the provision of the constitution that protect the office.
He said the removal of experienced officers at the ministry of finance is designed at undermining the office of the auditor general which is not supposed to be subject to any authority in the performance of its duties.
He said the government did not consult the secretary to the cabinet before removing the officers from the ministry of finance employed to carry out the audit works.
He suspects the removal of experienced officers from the ministry is calculated at replacing them with user-friendly UPND officers who will cover up the financial scandal under the 2022 national budget which saw the inflated CDF being mismanaged by the UPND.
He wondered why the government decided to take use of an illegal report which resulted in the removal of the experienced officer at the ministry of finance.
He said the audit report was never sanctioned by the secretary to the cabinet.
He regretted that the cleaning of the Tazama pipeline and committing the government to contact without the approval of parliament is another form of corruption.
And Mpika PF MP Francis Kapyanga Regretted the high cost of living under the UPND alliance government as observed by the JCTR report which placed k9 000 for a family of 5 to survive in Zambia.
Kapyanga said the change of government was necessitated by the people that wanted a reduction in the cost of living the people are subjected to now under the current government.

He advised the government to disengage Zambia from the conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the people of Zambia saying it is causing much suffering.
He observed that the high cost of living is caused by the deal the government entered with the IMF that imposed conditions that brought misery to the people of Zambia.
Instead, Kapyanga advised, the government to reintroduce the removed subsidies and ensure that the people now begin to benefit from the government.
He said the high cost of mealie meals is due to the absence of maize in the storage across the country because cadres exported all the maize to the neighboring countries including DRC.
He wondered why the government decided not to listen to the people tha6 voted for the UPND alliance.
Similarly, Chilubi PF Member of Parliament, Mulenga Fube, accused the United Party for National Development (UPND) alliance government of trying to use works at the Tazama pipeline to create an opportunity of disposing of the facility which was created to cushion the negative effects of the rising cost of oil in the country
Fube said the scandal at TAZAM Pipeline was being championed by the secretary to the treasury without taking into consideration the repercussion it will have on the country.
Fube said the PF invested closer to $5 million to repair or rehabilitate certain points of the facilities~ that is within the pipeline because they treasured that national asset.
He observed that some companies have been engaged to clean the pipeline at a very high price without the approval of parliament.
This dirt deal being championed implies that it will cost the country huge sums of money which were not budgeted for.
He wondered whether Tanzania is involved in the deal which is being championed by the secretary to the treasury without the approval of parliament and put the government as a guarantee to pay should there be some default
He wondered where the secretary to the treasury gets the authority to put the government as a guarantee over a deal that stinks of corruption.
He warned the suppliers of serious repercussions when the UPND lose elections in 2026 for accepting to run with the corrupt deal.
He suspects the idea of default was brought in to facilitate the disposal of the asset because the chance of defaulting is high.
Meanwhile, Mundubile observed that from the time the UPND came into power, the country has had problems with farming inputs, and the cost of fuel is on the constant rise, along with the electricity bills.
He observed that the government should have been polite to China whose debt is the highest
He said Zambia needs china more for the development of this country compared to other countries the president has gone to in his 33 international trips to visit.
He advised the government to go to China and negotiate for the debt restructuring in the coming days other