Zambia’s govt re-opens bidding for CCTV contract

Zambian government has once again opened bids for a $210 million contract to install closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras along the country’s streets.

The contract was first awarded to China’s ZTE in 2013 under a direct agreement, without an open tender procedure, but was later cancelled on suspicion of corruption involved in the process.

Fears also existed that the price of the project may have been inflated by senior government officials.

But now the Zambian government, through the Ministry of Home Affairs, has announced that it has started receiving fresh bids for the installation of CCTV cameras on the streets of the capital, Lusaka.

The deputy Minister of Home Affairs Colonel Gerry Chanda said yesterday that the Zambian government has decide to re-table the bids and that it will soon announce the successful bidder for the project.

Chanda said this time around, the Zambian government has decided not to single source the contract in order to satisfy all stakeholders who raised transparency issues in the first contract.

“The government is restarting the project to ensure that Lusaka city becomes an even securer city. But this time around, there will be not be corruption involved and we don’t want inflated costs,” Chanda said.

The CCTV camera project is a Ministry of Home Affairs initiative planned to assist with crime prevention, traffic management and general monitoring of the streets of the capital Lusaka.

The cameras on the streets are expected to become effective once the country’s Roads and Safety Agency (RATSA) has put in place a solid database to identify vehicle owners.

Under the surveillance system, drivers’ licences could be linked to bank accounts which will mean offenders will have fines debited electronically.

– See more at: http://www.itwebafrica.com/security/512-zambia/234485-zambias-govt-re-opens-bidding-for-cctv-contract#sthash.uESPosHq.dpuf