By Dr. Daniel Dube

The leader of the opposition, all serious parliamentarians and we the public demand as a matter of national security from Dr. Chakwera and the Tonse Alliance to demonstrate a level of seriousness when making an appointment for the leadership of NOCMA. A concrete appointment based on political patronage, the mere satisfaction of the basic legal requirements for the appointment will be a clear statement of lack of seriousness in according the importance of this position.

At this very critical time when the economy is down, it is critical that we get a leadership for NOCMA that is not based on political patronage or paper qualifications. The leadership should be given to a local or international individual who is matured, independent minded and has sufficient corporate experience to run a half billion dollar entity. Such an individual should have a demonstrable logistics knowhow to lead coordinated operations.

The leader should also have sufficient maturity and experience and gravitas to be able to withstand predatory cartels, political interference as well as have an ability to inculcate best international practices for the running of a failing institution that is nevertheless pivotal to the economy.

Given that the entity has ongoing cases related to corruption and more allegations of corruption, we need an individual who has the maturity and seriousness to tackle an extractive culture, price gouging by sitting governments as alleged by some politicians, externalization of funds through the hiring of “foreign transporters”, among many problems associated with the entity.

It will be a measure of seriousness that we do not have a continuation of the alleged illegal activities that have bedeviled this institution. We demand transparency.

As a country and as a people, we demand a serious press conference from anyone appointed to address the issues emanating from this parastatal that is a cause of anxiety to all of us. Jovial and cursory social media statements are at best a trivialization of the pain and suffering that the country is experiencing emanating from very poor planning in the management of energy issues in the country.

It will be expected given the current debacle at NOCMA, that we the public are informed on the liaisons between this entity with other government departments. Above all, we need transparency in the issuance, extension and political relationships of those who have contracts at NOCMA.

We expect that any new leadership shall comply with demands from any branches of government seeking release of documents related to corruption or law enforcement.

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