By ISAAC NICHOLAS
FORMER secretary for National Planning Valentine Kambori has expressed regret that the Minister Paul Tiensten had gone to the press with sweeping allegations of “10% scam” within the Department of National Planning and Monitoring, Treasury and Finance.
Mr Kambori through spokesman and personal lawyer Brendan Lai also accused the minister for blatant breach of the Public Service (Management) Act in appointing incumbent Joseph Lelang.
“If the minister wished to justify has actions in bringing to the National Executive Council his choice of an acting secretary, which he had successfully accomplished by blatant breaches of section 4 of the Public Services (Management) (Selection and Appointment of Departmental Heads and Provincial Administrators) Regulation 2003, he should produce facts.” Mr Lai said in a statement
“The minister has unethically and immaturely resorted to speculation and conjecture which unfairly and adversely reflects on the integrity of Mr Kambori during his term in office as secretary for National Planning and Monitoring, and the secretaries for the Department of Finance and Treasury, and all the other senior officials of these departments.”
He said the minister made reference to the payments made to the landowners of the resource rich Southern Highlands and cited these payments as irregular or corrupt.
“The minister knows very well that the same allegations were made in January 2008 and rather than engage in a trial by and through the media, a full brief was provided to the minister, which clarified these landowner’s payments to be above board, duly made within the law and legitimate.”
He said if the minister was serious about the investigations he proposed to carry out with the newly-appointed acting secretary, it would be noteworthy that Mr Lelang was not entirely cleared of an unauthorised payment of K2 million he authorised and actioned in favour of the Nipa-Kutubu district administrator operating account in August 2004, while in office as a first assistant secretary in the Planning Department, and for which Mr Kambori had Mr Lelang charged and removed from the department.
“While it is of a serious concern by all Government department’s that their officials are seeking so-called “commissions” on attendances on payments made out to clients, these activities have been pandemic for a very long time and all departmental heads individually and through the Central Agency Co-ordination Committee were dealing with the problem.”
He said a wider investigation such as was proposed was welcomed.