By IREEN MULENGA
The Governance Elections Advocacy Research Services (GEARS) Initiative Director McDonald Chipenzi says that President Hakainde Hichilema should not tolerate his Ministers to be major bidders and contractors of Government projects and tenders.
Mr Chipenzi said that the President should ensure that Ministers are not part of the business entity so that the fight against corruption is not compromised.
In an interview with the Independent Observer, Mr Chipenzi said conflict of interest laws must be strengthened to ensure that Ministers and other senior government officials concentrate on service delivery rather than bracing their personal companies as conduits of corruption.
He said Zambia was legally a broken state as far as the rule of law was concerned in the last 10 years as evidenced by the normalisation of lawlessness in all sectors of society.
And the Opposition New Hope Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) Spokesperson Cephas Mukuka has challenged President Hakainde Hichilema to have a strong grip on his Ministers in order to avoid them become major bidders and contractors of government projects.
Dr Mukuka said that there is need for President Hichilema to emulate the late first Republican President Kenneth Kaunda who formed a leadership growth which compelled all Ministers that served under UNIP disallowed to participate in any business activities.
