SHIWANG’ANDU PF member of parliament Stephen Kampyongo says the PF will not be apologetic for the manner it dealt with suppliers and contractors.

Presidential Spokesperson Anthony Bwalya recently said all erring contractors and suppliers who participated in the deliberate scheme to defraud the country would be blacklisted and precluded from conducting any business with government.

But in an interview, Kampyongo accused government of being emotional, saying contractors and suppliers were awarded contracts according to the law.

“My first reaction to that is very simple and straightforward, we have got acts of Parliament that provide for all the entities of government in terms of how they operate. We as PF government, we realised some of the challenges that were in the procurement sector for example. That is why we have come up with provisions of pricing index, how products should be priced. In the ZPPA Act, we realised that there are some gaps in the legal framework. Look at the prioritising of citizenship, citizenship centers act. Get the ZPPA Act of 2020 and look at the silent features there on how procurement entities should conduct themselves in terms of procuring and ensuring that there is value for money,” he said.

“Again you have seen how Parliament has been probing the Auditor General’s Report. It hasn’t started with the new dawn government, it started with the PF government. It is the PF government that worked on the Financial Intelligence Act so that we make it effective and make it collaborate with the law enforcement agencies. So let us not use emotions, people are expectant. Contractors who are working with government, be it Zambian or foreign, they know how they get contracts according to the law. The contracts are law biding documents which spell out what should be done and what shouldn’t be done and the do’s and don’ts of either side.”

He said PF only worked with contractors and suppliers who were eligible and legitimate.

“All those that could have breached the contract either with government can be punished. But we are not going to be apologetic as former government for working with citizens who were eligible and who were legitimate. Those that would be found wanting, let them get found wanting premised on the law, not just casting aspersions that whoever worked with government was pro-PF. You know the succession when we took over, the companies that were working under the MMD government, if all those who worked under the MMD governments could be branded as MMD, that is being unfair to people. What should be asked when you are saying value for money, how can it be value for money when other companies are over pricing even as we speak now? So, the law is very clear. You should tell these people that what they are talking about is already provided for in the law. Blame games should come to an end at some point,” said Kampyongo.