Mismanagement of K1.3m Covid 19 Fund worries Reverend Canon Emmanuel Chikoya

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By Derrick Sinjela

COUNCIL of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) General Secretary Reverend Canon Emmanuel Chikoya is alarmed by the Auditor General’s Report revelations on the mismanagement of COVID-19 resources for the period February to July 2020, amounting to K1.3 million.

In a Thursday 24th December 2020 CCZ Statement on Mismanagement of K1.3m Covid 19 Fund, Reverend Canon Chikoya, a banker by profession, noted that the report underscored financial irregularities in the management of COVID-19 resources.

Rev. Canon Chikoya regrets that examples highlighted in the report include procurement contracts awarded to suppliers without competition and the engagement by the Ministry of Health in uncompetitive procurement through cover bidding.

“As CCZ we would like to affirm the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants’ stance that the irregularities identified in the COVID-19 report of the Auditor General need to be fully investigated by Government to their full conclusion. All those found wanting must be brought before the law to account for their mismanagement of public funds,” implored Rev. Canon Chikoya, in a Press Statement circulated by Council of Churches in Zambia Communications Officer, Michael Mazakaza.

Rev. Canon Chikoya believes that taking stern action will deter others from repeating the same crimes as such resources were meant to help mitigate the impact of the pandemic in which the general public would have benefited.

“We have noted with concern that the Auditor General’s reports over the years have not been acted upon despite revealing financial irregularities amounting to billions of kwacha. This lack of political will to follow up on the revelations by these reports has been the motivating factor by those who have continued to mismanage national resources with impunity. As long as this status quo is left unattended to, Zambia will continue to lag behind in terms of
development and improving the welfare of citizens as resources that are needed to cater for development and people’s welfare is ending up in the pockets of few individuals,” protested Rev. Canon Chikoya.

The Council of Churches in Zambia General Secretary says If there was political will to ensure that those involved in the mismanagement of these resources are punished as required by law, there wouldn’t be any need to borrow billions of kwacha from China and other lenders for our infrastructure development.

 

Alluding to a position taken by the Zambia Institute for Chartered Accountants (ZICA), Rev. Canon Chikoya says CCZ is looking forward to a more robust financial management to safeguard national assets.

“We are hopeful that with qualified men and women in strategic positions of Accountant General, Auditor General and Controller of Internal Audit most of these queries will no longer continue to appear,” prayed Rev. Canon Chikoya.