Kalabo District Health Director arrested for corruption
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in Mongu has arrested and charged Dr. Neto Mbwayu, the District Health Director for Kalabo District, for corruption involving K43,000.00.
In Mansa, the Commission has also arrested and charged Jackson Kaunda, a former Mansa District Hospital Administrator, with three (3) counts of Participating as a Bidder in Public Procurement of a Procuring Entity by Which He Was Employed as a Public Officer, contrary to Section 73(1), as read with Section 77(1)(a) of the Public Procurement Act No. 12 of 2008.
In this matter, Kaunda allowed JK Kellies General Dealers, a business in which he is a partner, to supply goods and services to Mansa District Hospital, where he was employed as Hospital Administrator.
Dr. Mbwayu, 42, of Winela area in Kalabo, has been charged with two (2) counts of Willful Failure to Comply with Applicable Guidelines relating to procurement, contrary to Section 34(2)(b), as read with Section 41 of the Anti-Corruption Act No. 3 of 2012.
He has also been charged with one (1) count of Making a Payment from Public Revenue for Services Not Adequately Rendered, contrary to Section 34(2)(a)(ii), as read with Section 41 of the same Act.
Investigations revealed that between 1st January 2021 and 31st December 2022, in Kalabo District, Dr. Mbwayu, in his capacity as District Health Director at Kalabo District Health Office, willfully failed to comply with Ministry of Health procurement guidelines dated 2nd January 2020 when he approved a payment of K39,000 to a named company for the purchase of two (2) HP Pavilion laptops—an amount above his approval threshold of K30,000.
Further, he approved the purchase of the two (2) laptops without a written request from the User Department.
Investigations have further revealed that during the same period, Dr. Mbwayu authorized a payment of K4,000 from public revenue for the upholstery of an office motor vehicle seat, a service which was not adequately rendered.
Meanwhile, Kaunda, 43, of Musenga Site and Service in Mansa, is alleged to have, on three occasions between 1st February and 30th May 2022, allowed JK Kellies General Dealers, a business in which he is a partner, to supply stationery amounting to K10,000.00, cleaning materials amounting to K9,950.00, and to service photocopiers at a cost of K1,000.00, to an entity in which he was employed as Hospital Administrator—a matter involving Mansa District Hospital, a public body.
Both Dr. Mbwayu and Kaunda have since been released on bond and will appear in court soon.