Africa-Press – Zambia. LUAMPA Council has dismissed allegations that Energy minister and Luampa Member of Parliament Makozo Chikote awarded government funded contracts to himself early last year.
According to Luampa Council Secretary Jeremiah Sachikola, due process was followed in the awarding process and Chikote had no hand in the awarding of contracts.
“Contracts were not awarded to a member of parliament. Contracts were awarded to the bidders that bidded for those contracts that we advertised and Chika Investments is one of the companies that bidded for the contracts and based on the requirements for one to bid for a contract, the requirements were met by this company and this company was represented by a female named Hilary Weza as the director.”
“So we didn’t give any contract to the MP (Chikote), we gave the contract to Chika Investments,” Sachikola said.
Yesterday, reports had surfaced online, alleging that the minister and lawmaker had been getting Constituency Development Fund (CDF) projects through a firm he reportedly jointly owned with Weza.
The reports further suggested that Chikote used his influence to secure contracts for the firm.
This story raised concerns about potential abuse of office and conflict of interest with the public demanding for accountability.
However, the Council Secretary for Luampa Constituency Sachikola set the record straight, explaining the rigorous process that governs the awarding of contracts under CDF, adding that Chikote was not involved in any wrongdoing.
According to Sachikola, all government contracts were awarded through an open and competitive bidding process.
He explained that the council advertised available projects through zonal representatives to allow community members to submit applications through their Ward Development Committees (WDCs).
The secretary said the applications are then reviewed, prioritised and forwarded to the council’s planning and technical committees before reaching the CDF Committee, where the minister is one of the several members.
“The MP has no power in the awarding of contracts. Once the CDF committee approves the projects, they are sent to the province for further scrutiny. The Provincial Local Government officer and the Provincial Minister review the projects and only after their approval do they come back to my office for advertisement and bidding,” explained Sachikola.
He narrated that once bids are received, a technical evaluation committee, appointed by the council secretary and chaired by the procurement officer, reviews all applications to ensure compliance with key requirements, including company registration, tax clearance and capacity to deliver the work.
He said one of the companies that won contracts was Chika Investments and it was among 70 bidders who competed for 34 community projects.
He noted that the company, which was awarded two projects in early 2023 was represented in the bidding process by the same woman named Hilary Weza.
“We did not award any contract to the MP. The contract was given to Chika Investments, which met all requirements. What we check when awarding contracts is whether a company is legally registered, compliant with tax regulations, and has the necessary capacity to carry out the work. We do not necessarily go as far as verifying individual shareholders,” Sachikula stated.
He further explained that one of the key priorities of the CDF programme is to empower local contractors, which is why several local companies, including Chika Investments were selected.
While allegations have been made that Chikote may have links to Chika Investments, Sachikola clarified that there has been no official confirmation from the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) to verify whether or not the MP has any ownership stake in the company.
“If he is the owner and he’s part of the CDF Committee then that would be a conflict of interest. But at this point, we have not verified whether Chika Investments belongs to him. What we know is that the company met all legal and financial requirements and was selected through the proper channels,” he said on Diamond TV.
Sachikola reiterated that as per government regulations, civil servants are not allowed to bid for CDF contracts in an individual capacity and any potential conflicts of interest would need to be formally investigated.
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