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Former President Edgar Lungu’s Political Advisor, Chris Zimba, has urged government to halt plans to amend Section 89 of the Public Procurement Act No.8 of 2020, which requires any company participating in public procurement to partner with citizens.
Zimba in a statement issued in Lusaka on Sunday said Section 79 has already solved the problem that government is advancing to be the reason why Section 89 should be amended.
He said the motive behind the proposed amendment will only give advantage to foreign companies because Zambians will no longer benefit from public procurements.
“Section 89 establishes the eligibility criteria for anyone wishing to participate in our Public Procurement. As you can see in 89(1) h, foreign companies (whether local or international) must partner with Citizen Companies for them to be eligible. This requirement applies to all procurement methods in our land including the now abused direct bidding (Single sourcing),” Zimba said.
He said the intention of the Law was to ensure citizens got their Constitutional first Right of Refusal in Public Procurement, build capacity where they lack, and ensure transfer of skills and technology to citizens.
” So, while they have found it easy to single source every government tender, this section 89 awaits to take some of them to prisons because it will be essentially impossible to justify why citizen companies are not partnering with these foreign companies being single sourced,” Zimba said.
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He urged the United Party for National Development (UPND) Administration to reduce on the huge appetite to give foreigners business, leaving Zambian citizens in poverty.
Zimba said Zambia enacted the Law because it was a Constitutional duty for the government to create an enabling business environment for the citizens of the Republic as guided by Article 10(1) and 10(2) of the Constitution Amendment Act of 2016.
“It is not a favor, but a constitutional demand that governments must take seriously. This single sourcing and these innuendos to change this requirement for foreigners to partner with citizens is unconstitutional, and we must interrogate if these people are acting constitutionally. Zambia is for Zambians, resources in Zambia belong to Zambians,” he said.
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