The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has arrested and charged a former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education and a former Head of Procurement and Supply over alleged breaches of public procurement regulations involving a US$401.8 million loan obligation.
The two are 57-year-old Henry Tukombe, former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, and 53-year-old Jacob Masatunya, former Head of Procurement and Supply at the Ministry.
The ACC alleges that the two wilfully failed to comply with procurement guidelines when they caused the Ministry to enter into a contract with Hong Kong-based Mikalile Trading Company Limited for the supply and delivery of various school items countrywide.
The contract had a principal sum of US$259,250,400, with interest of US$138,698,964 and arrangement fees of US$3,888,756, bringing the total loan obligation to US$401,838,120.
The ACC says the first offence relates to the alleged failure to comply with Regulations 111 and 30 of the Public Procurement Regulations of 2011 by allowing the procurement to proceed without a request from the user department.
The second count alleges that the two proceeded with the procurement without subjecting the bid to evaluation, contrary to Regulation 114 of the same regulations.
In the third count, the ACC alleges that Mr Tukombe and Mr Masatunya allowed the procurement to proceed without obtaining the required approval from the Ministerial Procurement Committee, contrary to Section 22 of the Public Procurement Act of 2008.
The two have since been released on bond and are expected to appear in court soon.
By Cherish Sibote
