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By HARLYNE JOKU
NATIONAL Capital District Governor Powes Parkop has cancelled the
contract of a legal consultant hired by his predecessor Wari Vele,
saying it was “unnecessary” and the fees “exorbitant”.
Mr Parkop told The National he blocked a K36,000-claim lodged by the
Kana Consultants for legal services just two weeks ago at National
Capital District Commission (NCDC).
Kana had already been paid K98,000 since its engagement last year by the
previous city government administration.
“I did not think it was necessary for NCDC to further engage the
lawyers’ services.
“We have our own legal division and qualified lawyers to give the
commission legal advice.
“We do not need to pay the legal consultant K36,000 per month,” Mr
Parkop said.
Mr Parkop said he decided to terminate the contract because the
consultancy fee was big and had not been approved by the Minister for
Finance.
“It is in breach of the Finance Management Act,” Mr Parkop said.
He added the consultant had put in another claim for K36,000 two weeks
ago but he (Parkop) had directed a stop to the payment.
Mr Parkop said he would put a stop to any “dirty deals” at NCDC even if
he gets punched in the face or be threatened.
At his commissioning three weeks ago, Mr Parkop had vowed to put a stop
to questionable city government contracts and outsiders' perception of
NCDC as a “milking cow”.
“We may have a good management, but people from the outside tend to
approach us with dirty and corrupt motives,” he said,
The governor said he had in the past three weeks been reviewing all
divisions of NCDC and was beginning to get a grip of the way the city
runs.
He said honest contracts would be maintained and future contracts must
be awarded to companies with credibility and not just to any Tom, Dick
and Harry.
 
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