By Cathy Maulidi:
The Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises Committee of Parliament Wednesday failed to meet officials from the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) as the controlling officer, Colleen Zamba, failed to show up at the meeting.
Zamba was, as controlling officer, summoned to appear before the committee to respond to issues related to approvals during procurement contract processes.
The meeting was scheduled for 9:30am and, by that time, members of the committee had gathered, waiting for her.
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Information from some of the committee members indicates that an officer from the OPC sent an apology that Zamba would not appear before the committee since she was busy attending to other duties.
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The information further indicates that Zamba could have assigned another officer to represent her but the apology, according to our source, also stated that her second in command was also busy attending to other duties.
The committee’s chairperson Binton Kutsaira said in an interview that projects in the country are delaying “unnecessarily”.
He cited the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority, Government Contracting Unit, ministries of Transport and Justice and the Office of the President and Cabinet as some of the culprits.
The committee is this week summoning the stakeholders to come to the root of the problem.
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“We want to find the main culprit so that this problem can be dealt with once and for all,” Kutsaira said in an interview yesterday.
PPDA has already appeared before the committee and, through its director general Eddington Chilapondwa, defended the delays, saying they follow appropriate measures before approving contracts.
When contacted, OPC spokesperson Robert Kalindiza said Zamba was attending a presidential function at BICC in Lilongwe.
He, however, asked for a questionnaire so that he could give a finer response on the matter.
