By OLIVER SAMBOKO
WE will review some contracts that were signed before we formed government because it is one of the conduits for corruption, President Hakainde Hichilema has said.
President Hichilema said most of the K7 billion domestic debt owed by Government was as a result of penalties from its own money owing to bad contracts.
He said this yesterday at State House in Lusaka during the swearing in of Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) Director General, Mary Chirwa and Teaching Service Commission Chairperson, Daphne Nawa Chimuka.
The President said his administration would not tolerate wasteful expenditure where government lawyers in ministries collude with contractors to siphon public money.
The President said during the last seven years of PF rule, the country lost a lot of money through corrupt contracts where the government was made to make a down payment of 20 percent before the execution of the contract.
He said some lawyers colluded with other senior government officials to siphon money from Zambians through concocted contracts.
“We have contracts where government lawyers who were supposed to protect the interest of citizens, signed contracts with clauses that are penalising and taking money from citizens,” Mr Hichilema said.
He however vowed that he would never be distracted by some corrupt elements that wanted to divert his attention.
He called on State House, Cabinet and Security officials to support the appointment of Ms Chirwa and the fight against corruption.
