By NATION REPORTER
THE just signed US$577 million deal for the construction of the Ndola-Lusaka dual carriageway through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) 25 years concession agreement shall end up to be one of the biggest corruption scandals in the President Hakainde Hichilema administration, Emmanuel Mwamba has said.
Mr Mwamba has described the US$577 million road construction deal which the government says shall be done through the Public, Private Partnership as a scam which he believes shall end up as nothing but another corruption scandal.
Mr Mwamba, Zambia’s former Ambassador to Ethiopia says the PPP was a partnership between the public sector and the private sector, forged for the purpose of delivering a project or a service traditionally provided by the public sector.
Mr Mwamba has questioned the financing of the Lusaka-Ndola dual carriageway which has seen an investment of US$300 from National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA), an investment of US$100 million from the Workers Compensation Fund Control Board (WCFCB) and an investment of US$200 million from Stanbic Bank Zambia Limited
Mr Mwamba said NAPSA and WCFCB were public institutions which meant the project was a publicly funded project while the private sector was only sourcing $200 from the US$577 million cost of the works.
He said NAPSA was formed through an Act of Parliament to provide income security against the risk arising from retirement, death and invalidity with a focus on adequacy of benefits while the WCFCB was a social security scheme responsible for compensating workers in respect of accidents suffered and diseases contracted during the course of their duty.
Mr Mwamba said the purpose of entering into a PPP project was to free Government resources and provide for other urgent social needs but use the opportunity to access private-sector financing to build public infrastructure.
“The models of PPP are known but this particular one is strange, But in this case, the government has found the money through pension funds and will supplement it with a loan from a private bank,” Mr Mwamba said.
Mr Mwamba said another well-known model was where the private sector would find the investment to finance, build, and operate the project but government or the public partner would then retain ownership of the asset after expiry of the lease or concession period.
“In fact, this is what is provided for in the Public-Private Partnership (Amendment) Act No 22 of 2020,” he said.
He said under this project government would pay for the design, hire a contractor to build the infrastructure and then hand it over to a private partner to collect tolls or user fees for 25 years which makes it a scam.
And United Prosperous and Peaceful Zambia president Charles Chanda said it was disturbing that all the monies for the Lusaka-Ndola Dual Carriage Wproject were sourced from within.
“So what is the role of the private entity? Who is going to be in charge of the Toll Gates? Is it NAPSA, WCFCB or Stanbic bank? This deal is a scam and the blind are busy clapping,” Mr Chanda wondered.
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