'Corruption killed the country,' says Gwanda residents

Gwanda residents have accused government and parliament for destroying the country through corruption.

This was the collective expression of the residents of the mining town at the on going nationwide public consultations by the Finance and Economic Development Parliamentary Committee on the Public Debt Management Bill and the Joint Venture Bill. The fairly attended consultation meeting chaired by Nkayi North Member of Parliament Abednico Bhebhe was held at the town hotel on Wednesday morning.

Instead of discussing the contents of the proposed bill, the residents went flat out throwing accusations at government for allowing corruption to bring the country to a halt. The residents insisted that even if the new laws on public debt would be put in place as long as corruption remained unaddressed the loans acquired would still disappear without doing the projects earmarked for.

On the Joint Ventures Bill, the residents welcomed the proposed new legislation but insisted that the awarding of the joint venture deals be left to the local authorities not central government. The residents insisted that for the Joint Venture laws to also work government must guard against corruption as the tendering of partners would risk being given to corrupt partners who would do substandard jobs at a huge cost.

The consultations are on going in all the ten provinces of the country and the public inputs will are expected to be compiled and included in the committee's presentation to Parliament.