Unreal. The absolute gall of these people. Parliament dropped almost four hundred grand in public money, specifically three hundred seventy two thousand and change, to renovate the private Borrowdale house of Senate President Mabel Chinomona. This was not for official business. This was for her personal home. The whole scheme involved handpicking suppliers to avoid competitive bidding, with multiple individual payments blowing past the legal limits that require an open tender. The country's Auditor-General, Reah Kujinga, flagged all of it in her recent reports, calling it a clear violation of procurement laws and a straight-up abuse of funds.
The details are a masterpiece of entitlement. The biggest single chunk, one hundred sixteen thousand dollars, went to demolish and rebuild the perimeter wall around her property. Several other payments for furniture and fittings also sailed past the tender thresholds. They spent nearly fifty-eight thousand on decorations like chandeliers and fancy vases, when the rules say anything over ten grand needs competitive bids. Treasury had to get involved to approve another sixty thousand for bedroom stuff, including multiple beds and bedding sets. They bought kitchen appliances and furniture for seventy two thousand. They even dropped sixty-four thousand on curtains for the whole house, including the staff quarters. Every part of this ignored the spending limits.
When called out, Parliament tried the weakest excuse imaginable. They said they picked suppliers directly for artistic and qualitative reasons. The Auditor-General basically said that it is nonsense, pointing out that skipping bids kills competition and wastes money. After the reports came out, the Public Accounts Committee, led by MP Chalton Hwende, tried to get answers from senior parliamentary staff. Those officials first refused to show up, then demanded the media be kicked out of the hearings, whining about sensitive data. The audit also found that people in Speaker Jacob Mudenda's office were giving themselves insane amounts of extra fuel on the side. Both Chinomona and the Clerk of Parliament, Kennedy Chokuda, refused to comment when asked. It is the perfect blend of corruption, arrogance, and a total disregard for anyone who actually pays taxes.
The details are a masterpiece of entitlement. The biggest single chunk, one hundred sixteen thousand dollars, went to demolish and rebuild the perimeter wall around her property. Several other payments for furniture and fittings also sailed past the tender thresholds. They spent nearly fifty-eight thousand on decorations like chandeliers and fancy vases, when the rules say anything over ten grand needs competitive bids. Treasury had to get involved to approve another sixty thousand for bedroom stuff, including multiple beds and bedding sets. They bought kitchen appliances and furniture for seventy two thousand. They even dropped sixty-four thousand on curtains for the whole house, including the staff quarters. Every part of this ignored the spending limits.
When called out, Parliament tried the weakest excuse imaginable. They said they picked suppliers directly for artistic and qualitative reasons. The Auditor-General basically said that it is nonsense, pointing out that skipping bids kills competition and wastes money. After the reports came out, the Public Accounts Committee, led by MP Chalton Hwende, tried to get answers from senior parliamentary staff. Those officials first refused to show up, then demanded the media be kicked out of the hearings, whining about sensitive data. The audit also found that people in Speaker Jacob Mudenda's office were giving themselves insane amounts of extra fuel on the side. Both Chinomona and the Clerk of Parliament, Kennedy Chokuda, refused to comment when asked. It is the perfect blend of corruption, arrogance, and a total disregard for anyone who actually pays taxes.
