.MASEBO

By PERPETUAL SICHIKWENKWE –

ALL the chiefs in the country supported the decision by Government to cancel the 19 hunting concessions because their selection was allegedly marred with irregularities, a witness has said.
Save Rural Africa Foundation (SARAF) secretary general Wisdom Gondwe told the Tribunal constituted to probe Tourism and Arts Minister Sylvia Masebo’s alleged abuse of office that the 280 chiefs, who all belong to the organisation, supported the decision to cancel the concessions.
He said that was because the process was not in conformity with what was agreed at a constitutive meeting at Sandy’s Creation in Lusaka.
Pastor Gondwe said the traditional leaders supported the decision announced by Ms Masebo because it was the right decision.
He told the Tribunal the chiefs rallied behind her decision to cancel the tenders because it was technically correct and professional.
Pastor Gondwe said there were a lot of glaring irregularities and inconsistency in the awarding of concessions to 19 safari hunters.
“Chiefdoms are part of the executive and SARAF is an organisation run by chiefs for the chiefs, and all chiefs in Zambia belong to it.
“The decision to cancel the tender process was not the minister’s directive but that of Government which was backed by the chiefs,” Pastor Gondwe said.
He said it was the agreement of the consultative meeting held at Sandy’s Creation to involve chiefs in the tendering process, but that was not the case.
Pastor Gondwe, who at some point attempted to read a verse from the Bible but was stopped by the Tribunal which told him that it was not relevant to the issue, said the people who were entrusted to do the selection did not comply with what they should have done.
Another witness, John Duploy told the Tribunal that he was unfairly treated because his financial proposal was opened prematurely.
Mr Duploy, a professional hunter who had bid for five concessions under Muchinga Adventures, said on November 16, 2012, he witnessed the opening of tender biddings when he saw that both his envelopes were opened.
He said this was wrong because the opening of both his technical proposal envelope and financial proposal was a violation of clauses 10.2 and 14.2 of the bidding documents.
Mr Duploy said it was a requirement that only the technical proposal should have been opened, while the financial proposal should have been opened during the evaluation process.
Another witness, Chris Kangwa, a wildlife conservationist, said Ms Masebo’s decision was ‘momentous; as it was not done in a vacuum.
Mr Kangwa said chiefs and their communities had a God-given right to equally hunt like any other people because hunting was a source of income, but the tendering process did not involve indigenous people.