"Govt to lose K127bn" As corruption at RTSA is exposed

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 15:45:00 +0000

GOVERNMENT may lose over K127 billion through a corruptly executed tender at the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) to replace the centralized computer system that crashed  last year.

The tender for the supply of a new computerized operation system, known as Zambia Transformation System is apparently in the process of being awarded to a company which has no financial and technical capacity to handle the billion rich project.

This is contrary to Zambia Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA)’s advise.

According to senior officials at RTSA, government had asked the agency to invite companies to express interest in the procurement, delivery and supply of the new kit.

In response 31 companies across the globe submitted tenders and 9 companies were shortlisted after along evaluation processes by the tender committee at RTSA.

The nine companies were then asked to submit their Financial and Technical proposals separately and by June 7, 2012 seven companies out of the 9shortlisted managed to submit the required documents and eventually the evaluation processes started.

The officials said that on August 17, all companies that had qualified at this stage were invited to attend the opening of the Financial Proposal ceremony and only two companies attended.

RTSA subsequently submitted a report favouring their preferred but unqualified company to ZPPA but after a complaint was logged, ZPPA directed that due diligence must be conducted on both companies to ascertain their financial and technical capacity to carry out the project.

“But we were surprised that the company which scored high marks of above 80 per cent on both the Financial and Technical Capacity to handle the project was ignored as RTSA senior officials werepushing for the named firm using under hand methods

to do the multi-billion rich job.

“There is too much corruption in this tender and the levels of corruption will cost this country huge sums of money which the government will regret and will then start chasing people. The company had even failed the works inTanzania,” said one of the sources

In spite of RTSA having records that the fovoured company had no capacity to handle the multi-billion Kwacha Transformation System project, some named RTSA officials and the government department had made up their minds to award the tender to their preferred but incompetent favoured company.

“It is not a hidden matter now, ask anyone at RTSA, one of our top officials was even captured on camera recently having meetings with a representative of the favoured company at one of the hotels inLusakaand we know that.

We also know that just last week on Sunday he travelled toTanzaniawith other officials to meet heads of their preferred company. But this is against the advice from ZPPA.

Why are they rushing to give this tender to a non competent company? Let them come out in the open and declare interest in this matter,” the source said.

Deputy director at RTSA Cytone Kibela when contacted for a comment said that he did not give interviews on phone.