No Graft In Books Contracts, Says Education Ministry

THE Ministry of General Education has dismissed assertions that it corruptly awarded the US$10 million contract for the supply of textbooks to foreign companies at the expense of Zambian publishers.
Ministry of General Education permanent secretary Chishimba Nkosha said in Lusaka yesterday, there was no corruption in the manner the tender was handled, and that there was no truth in the article that appeared in the Daily Nation newspaper of Monday.
Mr Nkosha said in a statement issued in Lusaka that the story was malicious, misleading and aimed at tarnishing the image of the government.
He said all the alleged foreign companies that the newspaper quoted to have been awarded contracts to print textbooks are Zambian companies registered with the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA).
“The tender was floated on February 24, 2015 and the bidding was conducted through the Open National Bidding, a procedure specified in the Public Procurement Act of 2008 and the Public Procurement Regulations of 2011.
“All the six publishers notified as the best evaluated bidders are registered in Zambia at the Patents and Companies Registration Agency. Therefore, they are Zambian-registered companies,” Mr Nkosha said.
He said all the six successful bidders are also registered with the Book Publishers Association of Zambia.
Mr Nkosha said the people responsible for the article have ulterior motives and selfish interests to serve and want to gain public sympathy using lies after losing their appeals to the Zambia Public Procurement Authority, the Office of the Vice-President, State House and the unfruitful court proceedings.
He said the tender was only competitive among Zambian-registered publishers, and that the aggrieved publishers that are making unwarranted and malicious allegations against the government in the media did not participate in the tender and therefore have no legal basis to complain.
Mr Nkosha said had the aggrieved companies participated in the tender they could have complained because there are provisions for appeals and redress which the ministry would have adequately addressed.
Some publishers have mounted a smear campaign against the Ministry of General Education in the private media for missing out in the lucrative contracts for the procurement of textbooks for government schools.

Posted by Editor on November 20, 2015. Filed under LATEST NEWS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry