ADD president Charles Milupi says many boards in parastatals are created to award ruling party cadres.

Reacting to a whistleblower’s report that the Indeni board had met several times already this year and getting sitting allowances of between K7,000 and K21,000, Milupi observed most parastatals were not run in a correct manner.

“Every board meeting should have an agenda that looks at all that is required to do. And once the board has sat, it must give management the urge in which to run the company and interpret informed decisions. Quite clearly in this case, either the board is created mainly to reward people, which is what is happening in many parastatals, to reward cadres and therefore put people in who are totally incapable of giving policy directions to the company and that is why many parastatals are not run in the manner that these companies should be run. Instead of creating profits, they are making losses. This should is what is wrong with the governance of this country,” said Milupi.

He wondered what they could be discussing which was so pressing.

“The report that we have received that the Indeni Petroleum Refinery board chaired by Yamfwa Mukangwa has met 12 times from May 2017 to now, only indicates how public resources are being wasted in the country. The responsibility of the board is to set policies in the company and the management which works on a daily basis implements those policies. There can be no circumstances whatsoever that the board is required to meet so many times in the space of five months,” Milupi said.

“It is even more shocking that each time this board meets, it is reported that they have demanded sitting allowances of [between] K7,000 to K21,000. If they are sitting so many times what is it that they are discussing? It clearly shows that these meetings are being called to create conditions for them to be paid”

Milupi noted that board members were only supposed to meet four times a year.

“Ordinarily board members are supposed to sit once every quarter which is once every three months. Other companies’ boards sit even less [times]. Because if you have a company that runs properly and you have a board secretary who functions, every meeting has an agenda,” said Milupi.