Chaos at ZAWA, 2nd Edition

The story of ZAWA is a shocking one. In 2012 Tourism Minister Sylvia Masebo fired the ZAWA management for alleged corrupt practices in awarding Safari hunting concessions. Ms Masebo claimed said ZAWA had awarded hunting concessions to a family cartel, among others, which had significant potential to promote money laundering.

That fired ZAWA board was constituted in April 2012 by Minister Given Lubinda. Only to be fired in August 2012 by new Minister Sylvia Masebo. Masebo then appointed a new team led by mostly her close friends like Wynter Kabimba and Guy Robinson. That new ZAWA board hired a new management to run ZAWA. A board and a management many now accept were equally corrupt.

Before Masebo was also fired she said that ZAWA had a debt of over $400m. We were also told that the reason for the ‘black hole’ is that ZAWA only receives about $1m annually when it requires more than $10m. In short, according to Masebo, ZAWA's business model is not sustainable. But then we know Masebo is unreliable when it comes to corruption and mismanagement. So we must take it all with a pinch of salt.

What everyone knows is that ZAWA is corrupt and it has been corrupt ever since the MMD turned it into a cash cow. The new Minister Jean Kapata has a tall order to sort out ZAWA. Her deputy Laurence Evans admits on this MuviTV news clip that ZAWA is broke, but GRZ is doing what it can to "look at ways of mitigating the situation".

How does one sort out a problem like ZAWA? Answers on a postcard!

AUTHOR

Chola Mukanga

Economist | Consultant

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