Lusaka: Our attitude towards public property and resources must change. There is need for increased respect for that which belongs to the public at large, for public property and resources. We know that it is said "fya boma", "niva boma" but this doesn't mean that public property and resources have no owner. There is an owner and the owner is all who constitute what we are calling boma. What we are calling boma is all of us - boma ndise; ubuteko nifwe; muso kiluna, to borrow from a few of our languages.

When one abuses, misuses or steals public property or resources, we should all be moved with indignation whenever or wherever that happens. We have heard some people defend their misuse, abuse or stealing of public property or resources by telling those who try to confront them: "Wilafikosha kwati fyobe, niva boma."

This attitude is wrong and dangerous because it has the potential of destroying our country and of totally halting our progress as a nation. We say this because to develop, a country has to be efficient in its utilisation of resources.

To make Zambia rich and strong needs intense effort, which should include, among other things, the effort to practice strict economy and combat waste, that is the policy of building up our country through diligence and frugality.

And the principle of diligence and frugality should be observed in everything. We must pay special attention to the economy and avoid indulging in wastefulness. Thrift should be the guiding principle in our government expenditure. It should be made clear to all our people, especially those who work for the government, that corruption and waste are very great crimes.

And one area that needs special attention is government procurements. This is one of the areas most prone to corruption. And corruption in procurement affects the efficiency of public spending not only of the money contributed by our taxpayers but also donations from donors.

This ultimately affects the quality of services provided by the government such as education and health care and the opportunities they present to improve quality of life. We also know that corruption in procurements also harms companies that produce goods and services as it increases operation costs, reduces competitiveness and, in the medium term, is not good for business.

Every year, government spends huge amounts of money paying suppliers who have not supplied any goods or services to the government. Every year, taxpayers' money is used to pay contractors who have been contracted to do up some roads or build some public infrastructure which they have not built. Sometimes public funds are used to pay consultants who have not delivered. This is corruption; this is theft of public funds by all those involved.

But it happens every day and people get away with it and impunity seems to be the order of the day. What we are saying is backed by the findings of the Drug Enforcement Commission that over half of the suppliers seeking payment from the government have not supplied anything. But this is not new.

This is the way we have been operating as a country. People have become rich from supplying nothing but invoices to government. They get paid for supplying nothing. How is this possible? This is only possible through connivance, collusion with those in charge of government resources.

Those administering public resources connive with their friends to rob the people and share the spoils. This collusion became very clear in the case of Frederick Chiluba and his tandem of thieves where government officials were in collusion with individuals from the private sector like Faustin Kabwe and Aaron Chungu and their lawyers to steal public funds. What these did might have been at a grand scale but the same is happening at all levels of government.

And where goods and services are actually supplied to the government, this is usually at highly inflated prices and with the lowest quality of goods and services being supplied. A job that should normally cost an individual K1 million may cost the government K100 million or more. The government is a bulk buyer and should as such be getting huge discounts, but what does it get?

Over-priced goods and services. Why? Is it because those who are tasked with the duties of purchasing don't know what they are doing? No. They know what they are doing and are very competent people. Theirs is not a case of oversight because it is deliberate. This is so because it benefits them personally; it gives them an opportunity to enrich themselves at the expense of the people - or rather niva boma.

There is need to rationalise government procurements. It is difficult to understand how the same government is paying so many different prices for the same stationery. Every ministry, and sometimes every department or unit, procures its own stationery from its own source - a source that is connected to those running the unit or are in charge of procurements.

And a different price is paid to every different supplier for every ministry or department. And no questions are asked why department X pays more for a ream of paper than department Y when both of them are financed by the same treasury.

It is the same when it comes to the purchase of automobiles and procurement of other goods and services. Is this really the best way to conduct public business? Is a rational approach possible? Surely, there must be more sensible alternatives to this madness. This is tolerated because it benefits those involved in it - as the saying goes, epo balila; nipamene badyela.

And because of this, it is very difficult to stop it. The situation is also compounded by the fact that even the top leadership of government is sometimes caught in this web. If Chiluba and his entire Ministry of Finance were misusing, abusing, misapplying and stealing public funds, what moral authority could they have to correct that at the lower ranks of government?

Sometimes the suppliers of goods and services to the government are people who have paid commissions, bribes to the controlling officers and others involved in securing such goods and services. How can they get a supplier who has already paid them a bribe to account for failure to deliver when they have already gotten their share of the loot?

Clearly, most of the services our people today are going without is as a result of corruption in the government procurement system. And until this twisted system is straightened, we will continue to have very expensive poor roads and other infrastructure.

We will continue to pay more for nothing. And instead of going forward and making progress, we will be marching backwards in very long strides. Therefore, there is need for us to pay a lot of attention to government procurements. Government contracts should not become a way of rewarding ruling party cadres and other supporters.

Today, we have many ruling party cadres who have been paid government money but have failed to deliver on their obligations and nothing has been done to them. This is not a recipe for governing well; it is a recipe for anarchy and deepening corruption whose consequences we all know very well.

* Editorial comment in Sunday Post