Bushiri ‘duped’
MWNATION
The K5 million deposit paid for the crossover event at Bingu National Stadium (BNS for Prophet Shepherd Bushiri’s Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) by the brethren grew wings, the Government is now in a very tight position. The ministry of Youth and Sports in which the facility falls said that the matter is under investigations.
The crossover night service was cancelled by the ministry as they were saying the event would not give them time to undergo renovations ahead of Confederation of African Football (CAF) inspection to determine whether it would be fit to host international matches since the Bushiri’s event was scheduled for New Year’s Eve.
Investigations said that ECG issued a 50 percent down payment of K5 million in cash to BNS, but only K800 000 was deposited into government’s Account Number One.
According to documents, a deposit was made on December 1 by the ECG and were issued with a receipt number 6666233. Another document further claims that ECG paid an additional K1 million a few days later.
Upon cancellation of the booking, on December 14, ECG requested for a refund from the Stadium management, attaching the bank deposit slip as proof of payment.
The ministry’s Principal Secretary Oliver Kumbambe ordered the stadium management to instruct the Treasury to process the refund.
However, there was no proof for the Treasury to process the refund so the stadium manager Ambilike Mwaungulu could not process the refund from Treasury.
Part of an internal memo updating the PS on the issue, which we have seen, reads: “The accounts officer, [name withheld] received payment of K5 million from the church on 1st December, 2020, and a copy of the general receipt number 6666233 is attached for your reference.
“An extra K1 million was received from the church. However, there is no GR for this payment. The accounts officer to the stadium manager that out of the K5 million, he only banked K800 000.”
According to a well-placed source, the accounts officer was given a grace period of upto yesterday noon to pay back the money and he was not reachable. Mwaungulu referred Weekend Nation to the ministry’s spokesperson Simon Mbvundula who said: “All I can say is that we are working on the alleged transaction to determine whether the funds were indeed deposited or not and thereafter, an appropriate action will be taken.
“Treasury demands evidence of deposit. So, we are investigating the issue. However, we have been told that there could be other developments later today [yesterday].”
Ephraim Nyondo, ECG spokesperson said they wrote to the stadium’s management on Tuesday.
“They told us the refund would be ready by today [yesterday] and we are hopeful that they will reimburse by close of business today [yesterday].
“The cancellation took a big financial toll on us, as besides the payment, we have already spent millions on advertising and several other expenditures,” he said.