Kissing barrel of gun

Sat, 11 Mar 2017 13:27:49 +0000

ON January 19, 2017, Government suspended the importation of fuel by oil marketing companies in the public interest, citing the need for a smooth transition to the expressed wish by the State to disengage from the procurement of petroleum products.

One of the major reasons for the six-month ban was to curtail misconduct in the petroleum sector which had resulted in some unlicensed entities engaging in fuel importation, contrary to regulations, according to the Energy Regulation Board which issued the statement suspending the importation.

We are therefore perplexed that almost two months after the country-wide ban was effected, some players in the sector were still importing fuel illegally and it had to take the extraordinary patriotism and courage of the Zambia Union of Tanker Drivers and Allied Workers (ZUTDAW) to unearth the scam and inform the authorities.

The questions that beg answers are: How does one import more than 100 fuel takers of fuel from Tanzania or South Africa and bring them into the country using the designated customs entry points without anyone raising an eyebrow? Is it possible that the Zambia Revenue Authority and other security wings were not aware that the Government had suspended the importation of fuel by private entities for six months?

How possible that a foreign company, even assuming it is registered in Zambia, can brazenly move such huge stocks of fuel across the country’s borders and distribute it openly in the country without ERB, TAZAMA and the Ministry of Energy knowing?

Honestly speaking, how safe are we as Zambians who go to sleep every night believing that the Government is awake and watching over us?

Had it not been for the nationalist fervour of the union for tanker drivers’ officials who investigated the Oilgate at great risk to their lives and employment and reported the matter to the authorities, we would all still be fast asleep that all is well.

We wish to applaud the bravery and love for the country of ZUTDAW secretary general Humphrey Kapesha who went to great lengths to expose the suspicious goings-on in the petroleum industry and presented to appropriate authorities proof that an illegality was being committed.

Even when the conspirators threatened him that he will ‘‘kiss the barrel of the gun’’ if he continued interfering with their illegal business, Mr Kapesha retorted: ‘‘I would rather die than watch companies owned by foreigners stealing from Zambians…if they think they can take us for a ride, then they are mistaken.’’ Those are words of a true patriot.

We wonder what ZRA are thinking and doing today after realizing that our customs entry points are so porous that 100 fuel tankers can squeeze through and no-one will notice. We call upon the ZRA commissioner general to launch internal investigations to find out how these tankers were being cleared at Nakonde under the ruse that they were carrying TAZAMA oil.

It is our conviction that this whole scandal could not have been possible without the complicity of ZRA officials. One hundred takers of fuel is a lot of money to import without authority and you must be prepared to oil a good number of palms for you to succeed. This is what happened.

In the process, the Government lost millions of Kwacha through tax evasion by people whose company we hear was not even supposed to operate in the country, did not have the permits allowing them to import fuel and did not have the papers to distribute it as wholesalers.

It is this impunity, especially the threat to use a firearm to silence whistle blowers, which frighten us. We suspect these smugglers can only be so arrogant because they are in league with the powers that be. What a sad day for Zambia.