4 November 2009
FORMER Finance minister, Katele Kalumba yesterday denied inflating by US$1 million the payments due to United States (US) security companies, Systems Innovations and Wilbain Incorporated.
Kalumba said when the matter came up in court that he did not add $1 million on the funding profiles because he never saw the contracts for the two security companies for him to facilitate funding.
This is in a case in which Kalumba is jointly charged with former permanent secretary Stella Chibanda, director of budget Boniface Nonde and former chief economist Bede Mpande.
Others are former secretary to the treasury Benjamin Mweene and Access Financial Services directors Aaron Chungu and Faustin Kabwe.
The seven are facing 21 counts of theft by public servant contrary to section 29 (1) of the ACC Act as read with section 41 of Act number 42 of 1996.
"I know Likolo Ndalamei is an honest man but I find his suggestion that the minister during the meeting of January 2001 added US$1 million on the funding profiles to facilitate payments to Systems Innovations as preposterous," he said.
He said when the matter came up for continued defence before High Court deputy director of court operations, Edward Musona, sitting as magistrate that he did not raise the issue of payments to Systems Innovations and Wilban Incorporated.
The former minister said there was never a time when he sat alone in the office and approved funding allocations because this was a committee process which involved all relevant managers from the Ministry of Finance.
Kalumba said the statement generated by the budget office was that they owed Systems Innovations and the department had not paid the company for six months, a situation he said prompted him to call for a meeting.
He said his role in the meeting was that of chairperson and not to raise concerns the ministry was facing because this was the duty of personnel and departments involved in getting information on the funding to line ministries as well as contracts.
He said consistent with his concerns as minister, he asked the budget office staff during the meeting how much was outstanding but no one told him.
Kalumba said he asked for a copy of the contracts but none of the ministry staff present in themeeting availed him with the agreements.
He said the budget office had received through the then secretary to the treasury, James Mtonga complaints about none servicing of obligations under the Zambia Security Intelligence Services (ZSIS) special division.
Kalumba testified that Mr Mtonga said that there were litigation threats for none servicing of payments to security contracts.
He said he held another meeting with ministry officials because he never had sight of the security contracts Mr Mtonga had and that the secretary to the treasury was giving contradicting information.
He said officials from the Bank of Zambia, ZSIS and staff from the budget office were the parties involved with the security contracts and were supposed to know the transaction chain of the agreements.
He said after the meeting with these parties, he suggested that funding to the Office of the President requested for should not continue until he had sight of the contracts.
Kalumba said he never pressured anyone to pay Systems Innovations and Wilban Incorporated.
The matter comes up for continued defence on November 18.
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