LUSAKA-NDOLA ROAD IS A FRAUDULENT TRANSACTION-MILES SAMPA
LUSAKA-NDOLA ROAD IS A FRAUDULENT TRANSACTION-MILES SAMPA
ABOUT NAPSA, AVIC & THE NDOLA LUSAKA ROAD EXPANSION PROJECT
By Miles B. Sampa, MP
May 6th 2024
The Lusaka-Ndola road has to be done as a matter of urgency and it will be a big score for the UPND if completed. It is however not the end goal of a project that matters, but also the means.
NAPSA is as good as government by whichever argument adopted, be it legal or common knowledge. So, if NAPSA is involved directly, then it means it is government as a custodian of pension money that is funding the project directly. It would be interesting to also check the pension funds investment guidelines if NAPSA can invest that much money ($300M) in one infrastructure sector (road).
I was once a trustee of the Finance Bank pension fund and remember that we were not allowed by law to risk a lot of pension money into one investment sector. There is a percentage ceiling for what a pension fund can put in real estate, treasury bills, bonds, stock etc. This so not to risk pension money into one basket.
In any case, public funds are being availed to a Chinese foreign company AVIC to do a road in Zambia. It would have made more sense if NAPSA was advancing money to a Zambian owned private sector company so that they can invest in the road on joint venture together with AVIC. In a PPP the government’s role is to provide land, goodwill and importantly the custodian of public interest in the venture. That amounts to some shareholding percentage in the project.
Again, please get the road works started soonest to save lives from daily road accidents and also to speed up economic activities of trucks transporting copper from the Copperbelt, effectively to China via South Africa. It is however equally important that the issue of NAPSA involvement is well structured not for the good of China and the Chinese, but for the good of Zambia and Zambians.
AVIC may aswell go borrow money to do the road from a pension fund in China and not NAPSA who should be lending money to Zambian companies only.
MBS06.05.2024