The Young African Leaders’ Initiative (YALI) has formally written to Chief Justice, Ireen Mambilima requesting her to open an inquiry either through a tribunal or Commission of Inquiry into the sale of national assets which took place between 1992 and 1998.
In a letter dated 3rd September 2020 addressed to the Chief Justice, signed by YALI President Andrew Ntewewe and made available to media said that this will help the nation to settle the question surrounding the continuous public discussion on how national assets were sold.
YALI states that as an example, there are public allegations that some consultants appointed to preside over negotiations in the sale of Mosi-o-Tunya hotel and rainbow hotel in Livingstone were acting part of bidders on behalf of an entity to whom the national assets were sold and dubbed themselves as sellers and negotiators on behalf of the Zambian government.
In the letter, YALI is asking that the commission of inquiry be instituted to look into the manner and fashion in which Zambia’s entire privatization process was handled in the late 1990s.
It is of the view that the terms of reference must include identifying all those that might have unduly benefited from the privatization process and establishing whether such undue benefit constituted a criminal offense or not.
Further, YALI wants the inquiry to ascertain whether the disposal of national assets were done in accordance with a system that was fair, equitable, transparent, competitive, and cost-effective and that in instances where the commission finds that these tenets were not adhered to, the Commission must be given the power to declare that the sale was unlawful, illegal, unconstitutional, and null and void.
Source: Lusaka Times
