DANGEROUS TALK

GOVERNMENT must quickly explain its position regarding the unfolding confusion in Mitete in which partisan politics are being played out regarding Constituency Development Fund (CDF) contracts.

And the unfortunate part is that the practice is being promoted by someone who should be playing a big role to bring unity in his area and explaining how the CDF works.

The CDF, as the nation has been told so many times is meant to ensure development projects are mooted and executed at constituency level.

This is a key component of the new dawn administration’s policy of ensuring that decentralisation is not just talked about but implemented to the letter.

But we are concerned that the Mitete District Council Chairperson, Mr Martin Mukonga has suspended all tenders under the CDF on grounds that they were awarded to some Patriotic Front (PF) sympathisers.

Mr Mukonga said he had decided to halt the tenders because some of the beneficiaries were Patriotic Front members whom he claimed used to insult the UPND and its leadership when they were in the opposition.

Mr Mukonga was angry that UPND members were left out because according to him, the members of the ruling party had the right and qualifications to be awarded tenders for the supply of goods and services to the council.

But this is exactly what President Hakainde Hichilema and his ministers have been preaching about, that the CDF is not a preserve of the UPND cadres but for all Zambians.

“I have decided to halt and cancel the tenders because UPND members have not been considered and only the PF have been awarded the contracts,” Mr Mukonga said as he addressed his members who complained at his office that they were being sidelined by the council in the awarding of contracts.

In a move clearly meant to appease the UPND cadres, Mr Mukonga said “these are the people who were insulting the UPND and our leadership when we were in the opposition.

“So in order to bring harmony between my people and the council, I will put these projects on halt for 10 days until we scrutinise the contracts and see why they were awarded to PF members,” Mr Mukonga said.

What is surprising is that none of the senior leaders in the new dawn administration have said anything against Mr Mukonga’s arbitrary decision to suspend tenders that have been approved by the CDF committee of which he is a member.

According to the guidelines, the CDF committee is made up of key stakeholders in the district and is nonpartisan.

It is therefore surprising that Mr Mukonga can now turn around and claim that the committee was working in collusion with PF-aligned officers in the council to award their friends tenders.

It will be a sad day for the nation when tenders will be awarded according to one’s political inclination as opposed to competence and ability to perform.

The dangerous narrative being peddled in Mitete should be stopped now otherwise it will send wrong signals in the nation that the unity being preached about is nothing but mere politicking by the UPND government.

It must therefore put Mr Mukonga in the dock for sowing seeds of disunity.

PURSUING JUSTICE AND EQUITY WITH INTERGRITY