I can’t prove Sata sent me-Masebo

Tue, 13 Dec 2016 14:27:44 +0000

By Gwendolyn Mchenga

SYLVIA Masebo has finally confessed to the court that she has no evidence neither any proof to show that late president Michael Sata had directed her to unilaterally cancel the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) hunting concession tender for which she was dismissed.

But Ms Masebo has however insisted that late president Sata directed her to cancel the ZAWA hunting concession tender because of what she claimed were irregularities in the selection of the bidders.

In her defence in the Lusaka Magistrate Court, Masebo confessed having cancelled the ZAWA tender hunting concession after she had told the court that the tender was cancelled by government through her Ministry of Tourism and Arts.

When asked whether she had proof to show that late President Sata directed her to cancel the tender process, Masebo who is former Tourism and Arts Minister submitted that her evidence was based on the press statement she had issued and a letter she wrote to Mr Sata reminding him over irregularities at ZAWA.

Asked if she had documentation from Mr Sata to prove that her claim, Ms Masebo submitted: “I have no documentation to prove that late president Sata or State House to cancel the tender but that she had a Statutory Instrument which gave her authority as Minister to make decisions over ZAWA in the absence of the board.

But State lawyer Boniface Chiwala asked Masebo whether a Minister had powers to act as a board or to make decisions on behalf of the body, to which she responded in the affirmative.

She further admitted that it was a known fact that the Zambia Tender Procurement Authority was the only entity which had powers to cancel any tender process.

In her earlier statement Ms Masebo submitted that the decision to cancel the tender process was arrived at after President Sata called her to stop what she termed the nonsense at ZAWA.

Masebo testified that Dr Scott and then Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba advised her to cancel the tender because at the time, no company had been awarded the tender and that nobody knew about it.

Ms Masebo told the court that Dr Scott and Mr Kabimba advised that the tender would only become effective after the publication of the shortlisted companies. It was Masebo’s testimony that she later called the ZPPA director general and advised him that Mr Sata had asked her to stop the tender.

She submitted that ZPPA informed her that the tender could be cancelled at any   stage before it was awarded as was advertised in the media at the time.

She further stated that she had also written a letter to the Police Inspector General of police seeking support in securing ZAWA Headquarters in insuring that the premises, files and documents were not tempered by the officers and that no ZAWA management was to be allowed to enter ZAWA offices.