Planned protests against US$42 million fire trucks as George Mpombo says “It’s too late”
George Mpombo
Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP) president Sean Tembo says his party has written to Inspector General of Police Kakoma Kanganja notifying him of his party’s intention to facilitate country wide protests against the recent procurement of 42 fire trucks at $42 million.
And the Alliance for Community Action (ACA) has written to Lusaka Province police commissioner Nelson Phiri informing him that they wish to protest against the controversial fire tenders.
But George Mpombo says it is too late for Zambians to oppose the purchase of 42 fire tenders at $42 million when the trucks have already been delivered to Zambia.
In a statement today, PeP leader Tembo disclosed that the demonstrations would be held on Friday, September 29, 2017 from 12:00 hours to 17:00 hours.
“Protestors will walk peacefully from various parts of their areas to council offices. Our Party officials across the country will provide marshal services to ensure that the demonstrations are peaceful and orderly,” explained Tembo.
The PEP President urged all members of the public who were aggrieved by what he termed as “corrupt transaction involving fire tenders” to join the protest.
He assured all those who wish to participate in the demonstration that their security and safety was guaranteed.
And in a letter today, ACA executive director Laura Miti notified Commissioner Phiri that the protest against mismanagement of public resources would be held on Friday, September 29, when Finance Minister Felix Mutati is expected to present the national budget.
“The Alliance for Community Action (ACA) is a Non Governmental Organisation whose main purpose is to advocate for the prudent and accountable use of public resources in Zambia. In particular, the ACA aims to work with other civil society organizations and speak up about public resource management as it is linked to service delivery. In line with our objective and in line with the Public Order Act 113 of the Laws of Zambia, the ACA wishes to notify your office of our intention to hold a peaceful procession and demonstration at the Parliament of Zambia. We notify your office because we have been sent from Lusaka Central Police to Chelston police with all these stations saying notification should not come to them. We are hoping that your office will receive the notification,” Miti wrote.
“The purpose of this peaceful demonstration is to raise citizen concern on the procedure and cost of the 42 fire trucks recently bought by the Ministry of Local Government and Housing and public resource mismanagement generally. In accordance with the law, we wish to hold this demonstration on Friday, 29th September from14:00 hours to 16:00 hours. This is the day the national budget will be presented by the Minister of Finance and we feel it is an appropriate day to raise our concern on public resource management in the country.”
Miti assured Phiri that the peaceful protest would not disrupt proceedings of the House.
“The procession will take the form of members of civil society and ordinary citizens peacefully holding placards on the side of the road leading up to Parliament. We would like to assure you that the members of parliament proceeding to the House will not in any way be disturbed. We look forward to the police service facilitating this Constitutional citizen right and duty to raise their concerns to those that govern the country,” wrote Miti.
But former Defense Minister Mpombo says the whole issue was now “water under the bridge” as Zambians missed the chance to have the contract terminated before the trucks could be supplied.
“The Zambian people should get out of the cocoon of timidity and speak out on issues while they are in manageable stages. Zambians will be the ones to pay heavily over the government’s misuse of taxpayer’s money if they chose to be in a cocoon. Now its water under the bridge, there is nothing more we can do. What is being said now should have been said when we were alerted in 2015 that these people plan to purchase fire tenders at $42 million. Zambians have to be pro-active and raise issues as they come. To talk when things have already reached boiling point, when things have already slipped out of a manageable stage of control doesn’t help,” Mpombo said.
“It really doesn’t help, people should have the duty of providing checks and balances. If these issues were raised at an appropriate time when the media talked about them, I am sure things would have taken a different turn altogether. Let Zambians get out of the cocoon of timidity and passiveness and speak when it matters most. Now the cost is quite hefty, we will pay heavily.”
Mpombo challenged government to explain how it settled to spend $1 million on a single van, saying the deal “smelt a rat” and watered down the credibility of the leaders in government today.
“That is such an excessively humongous price, it’s huge. The government must unravel the mechanism of pricing behind that. That figure is astounding, the prices raises eyebrows,” Mpombo said.
He said the entire deal was a rip-off on the coffers of the already limping economy.
“This boarders on moral issues. The nation deserves a clear explanation. As it stands, we smell a rat. The whole thing doesn’t add up. The whole thing is a rip-off of public funds, which can reverse the economic outlook or economic development of the country. When you are saying you are cutting costs and there are these activities that raise eyebrows, it’s a setback to the economic development of the country. It also leads to a loss of confidence in the procurement system of the country. The nation deserves an explanation on why an expensive bidder was picked. This raises a lot of ethical and moral issues,” Mpombo said.
“These are issues that undermine the credibility of government, that’s why it is important for the country to know exactly how that bidder was arrived at. There were shortcuts in order to favour certain individuals. Certain people close to the corridors of power took advantage of the situation; the nation needs to know. There is a confidence crisis in government. When a nation is going through an economic tough patch then such things are being exposed, it raises a lot of issues. We need answers to the many questions about the fire machines.”