FIVE top officials at the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA), including director-general Edwin Matokwani, have been fired on allegations of corruption in the awarding of hunting safari concessions to some companies.
And police had by press time sealed off ZAWA offices in Chilanga.
Minister of Tourism and Arts Sylvia Masebo said Government has also directed ZAWA to cancel and nullify the whole tender for the granting of safari hunting concessions.
Ms Masebo said during a media briefing yesterday that the matter has been referred to relevant investigative wings of Government for further investigations and possible prosecution.
Others relieved of their duties are conservation acting director Melody Zeko, commercial acting director Rose Chivumba, finance acting director Andrew Sampa and head of procurement Taulino Banda.
Ms Masebo said Government has appointed an interim management team for administrative purposes and that the appointment of the ZAWA board is also being expedited.
The Patriotic Front (PF) government is not going to promote business cartels and underhanded mafia-style dealings.
President Sata stands for good business practices, zero tolerance to corruption and transparent Government processes which engender confidence among all stakeholders,” she said.
She said the tender process does not inspire confidence and that ZAWA management has demonstrated it does not share the PF administration’s aspiration on tourism management and development.
Ms Masebo said Government is committed to empowering Zambians and will not tolerate the allocation of almost all the hunting blocks to a few companies belonging to ‘family cartels’.
She said most of the companies belong to Zambians of either Indian or European origin and that only one indigenous Zambian company was selected.
The current ZAWA management does not believe in fair distribution of wealth among Zambians. The credibility of the ZAWA management is in question by the public if you were to evaluate the number of complaints the ministry receives every day,” Ms Masebo said.
Ms Masebo said the scenario and perception of corruption at ZAWA has created “disillusionment” among key stakeholders, including Zambians.
She said management also disregarded a ministerial directive to consult chiefs on the matter and instead picked individuals.
This behaviour by ZAWA management has given rise to a petition to President Sata by most of the affected chiefs and community resource board (CRB) chairpersons who felt completely sidelined by ZAWA in this important process.
As PF government, we want to guard against promoting or perpetuating malpractices that would erode confidence in the governance of this country,” Ms Masebo said.
Masebo said some participating companies allegedly put “up fronts” with intent to unduly influence the results of the tender process and that “fronting” is against the law.
She said some companies that have allegedly been sub-letting hunting blocks due to their lack of capacity to undertake hunting safari businesses have again been offered prime areas in the current tender.
When one critically analyses the suggested results of tender evaluation process, you will note that it has significant potential to promote money-laundering and as a responsible government, we shall guard against any activities that could sabotage our economy,” Ms Masebo said.
Zambia Daily Mail.