Saturday, April 20, 2024

Former President Rupiah Banda implicated in Napsa land scam

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President Rupiah Banda is flanked by MMD presidential campaign committee chairman Boniface Kawimbe (left)
File:Former President Rupiah Banda

THE Commission of Inquiry established to probe irregularities at the National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) has heard that Meanwood Property Development director Robinson Zulu was well-connected to former president Rupiah Banda and that the two sat next to each other to watch the Zambia National Soccer team in training before the transactions started.

NAPSA director of investment Joseph Ngosa testified before the Sebastian Zulu Commission of Inquiry that NAPSA director-general Stanley Phiri asked him if he knew how connected Mr Zulu was before he handed him a letter from Zulu.

This is in a mater in which NAPSA is alleged to have purchased 1,500 hectares of land from Meanwood Property Development in disregard of tender procedures and in the absence of a business development plan.

Mr Ngosa said soon after he was informed that Mr Zulu sat next to President Banda during the soccer training match at Edwin Imboela Stadium, Mr Phiri produced a letter authored by Mr Zulu offering land to NAPSA at K50 million per hectare.

Mr Ngosa also revealed that Mr Phiri further told him to immediately start making arrangements to meet Mr Zulu and discuss the land issue in detail so that NAPSA could purchase it.

He told the commissioners that during the transactions and preceding meetings, he had in mind the statement by the director informing him that Mr Zulu was well-connected and sat next to president Banda at the national soccer team training session.

Apparently, Mr Ngosa explained that, there was no investment at the time by NAPSA but he went ahead and discussed with Mr Zulu.
Director of finance, Doreen Chiwele also testified that there was political pressure in the acquisition of NAPSA land in which Mr Phiri also confessed to her that he was being pressured to ensure that NAPSA bought the land.

During the testimonies by the two officials, Mr Phiri was also present at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre.
She said it was clear that Mr Phiri was under political pressure and looked stressed as he continued pushing for the payment to Meanwood Property Development.

Ms Chiwele said Mr Phiri even confessed to her that he was under political pressure to buy Meanwood land at K75 billion.
Ms Chiwele said at that time, she refused to process the initial payment of K35 billion towards the deal.

She revealed that there were several other offers for land with lower costs but the decision could not be altered because of the political pressure.
Ms Chiwele said Mr Ngosa had written a memorandum to Mr Phiri for the attention of the investment committee of the board of directors but he was told to amend it and remove the aspect of the reservations.

She said in the memorandum to Mr Phiri, Mr Ngosa was explaining the correct procedures and that there were other offers with lower prices.
When asked by Mr Zulu, who is also Minister of Justice who exactly issued political instructions, Ms Chiwele said she was not told by Mr Phiri.

She said there was no evaluation process used to buy the 1,500 hectares of land because other institutions that offered land were excluded.
Ms Chiwele said the procedure used to procure the land was irregular.

[Times of Zambia]

56 COMMENTS

  1. Zulu sat next to RB, He said this, she said that. How does political pressure look like on a piece of paper or on the face? These inquries and their submissions are embarrasingly shallow in substance. I am wondering which competent court can admit such information as evidence. These cases a hearsay and easy to throw out unless a specially drilled PF judge is hired to specifically convict RB is used. What a waste of tax payers money.

  2. Pwahahahahaha ati he sat next to the president during a football match,so where is the implication there?? Just stop wasting our money on useless commissions.

  3.  CHKUBABE, You have the right to express yourself BUT NOT at the expense of other people’s REPUTATION and spreading LIES. Mrs Muyunda is my Mother and certainly the so called Mukela Muyunda is NOT my brother and he is NOT RELATED to our entire family in anyway. I resent strongly to your careless self-expression which is DEFAMING our family name. My family (which includes the late President Mwanawasa family) have always been at the forefront of fighting corruption in our beloved country. Kindly make amends to your comments and an apology would help.

  4. Is this true? Meanwood are just corrupt, I bought a plot from them Vorna valley, useless, they can’t even maintain the roads or any other services. This is why they never got serious and just stole our Money because of connections with Bwezani?.

    If true, our former president is a disgrace. Why get involved in such nonsense. You have a farm in Chipata is that not enough?

    When I am President, I will make sure I grab all the land from your children. You are an embarrassment.

  5. Regardless of what happened, every person who makes a decision does so at their OWN risk. This Adam-Eve excuse does not hold water. Political pressure is not legally binding for you Mr Ngosa and Doreen Chiwele to break the law and aid and abate thieves to steal from the Zambian people. YOU ARE ALSO CULPABLE and must be held to account for the decisions that you made. If you did evil just to keep your jobs, then you are as stinking as the thieves you helped. The nation is better off without you and your positions are untenable.

  6. Hey, hey you Guys, come down a little. President Sata was voted into office by the Zambian pipo and rightly so, he is empowered by law to appoint/dis-appoint pipo of his choice to do certain jobs as enshrined by in the Zambian constitution. He has appointed this Zulu commission to investigate the purported scum at Napsa and elsewhere so, let it be. Please let these commissions complete their findings and that will be the appropriate time to comment. You can say anything now ma Guys but no matter how right (or wrong) your critisism of ba SATA (na) maybe, it wont help matters. Zambians! There’s definitely something wrong with us; akanwa kamokene, mwaimbamo ulwimbo bwino, kabili mwatukanamo nensele? Alaa kabili…

  7. I SAT NEXT TO KALUSHA BWALYA ON A PLANE TO JOZI, HE OFFERED TO SELL FOOTBALL HOUSE FOR K100m. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN….

  8. At first glance there doesn’t seem to be much data pointing to the former president’s implicity in the scam except that he sat next to one Mr. Zulu, the Meanwood Director, at a soccer match.
    It’s either the Commission has not finished it’s work here or they have reached a brickwall and are unable to see through the chaos. Or did someone possibly move too sleek, obliterating all traces and making sure that no one calls their bluff? Pick one…:d

  9. Let’s all take it easy.No one said Rubish Banda will be convicted by these comissions.What Sata is gathering is a preamble of data which can be compiled and analysed before being used in the courts of law against MMD.

  10. Why doesn’t Sata just send soldiers to gun down RB and his sons and then ask their bodies to prove that the allegations against them are not false?

  11. Look at this bloggers

    Kaunda=Zambia Airways; Chiluba=Aero Zambia; Mwanawasa=Zambian Airways; Banda Zambezi Airways; Sata=Ubwato Airways or something like that. Another Airline is coming watchout.

  12. So, how exactly is RB involved in all this? Apart from the Sin of having Zulu sitting next to him at a football match? Guys, be careful about who you allow to sit next to you at football matches. There are commissions of inquiry in Zambia now. In short, give us substantial facts then we will go for RB. 

  13. If it was within my powers i would have started with these pipo giving statements to these commissions. Ati do you know how ell connected??? Atase this is some serious load of trash. This is the problem of employing cadres everywhere.

  14. The best way was to ignore that RB & MMD exist and focus on Developmentals issues. Look at America Bin Laden thought he was smart but they were just studying and gathering evidence about him. The day they said that Bin laden has been caught it was not a lie but a fact and they shoot him and buried him. I Doubt it if PF will ever find anything on RB. This guy was playing with Lazo master minder Chiluba FTJ. He is smart!
    Tribunal my Foot!

  15. We jst have too many fruitless commissions and from the look of things,these will end up to be another NCC exercise to legally steal from the zambian pipo.If this chap had nothing to say he should jst have shut up.How can you say i saw R.B sat next to Zulu at a football match my foot…….

  16. Guy Scot and Lubinda mocked R.B right on TV that he brought development in his last 90 days.They went on to say them will bring development in first 90 days in power….We are watching let them focus on their promise not this obsession with MMD.MMD this,MMD that. we will not eat MMD. we want food on the table,money in our pockets

  17. Ba LT should find better heading for your article.Your title doesnt tally with the contents.I couldnt see anywhere where R.B was implicated.Jst sitting with Zulu at a football match…….

  18. Please formally arrest Stanely Phiri and charge him with corruption look at his accounts and see what he has done to his houses in development note also that this was done with no loan from the bank..this man was paid off he was not under any pressure to refuse he could have refused to sale the land and now he would be a free man like Dorren..lock the geyzer up…

  19. @ pragmatic 2011, you must be jocking.You mean R.B to appear before the commission for simply seating next to Zulu at a footbal match.you must be jocking

  20. Suspend Stanley whilst this is going on otherwise will tamper with evidence if he hasnt already where is proof that foreen resisted the payment of the intial 30 billion zmk…

  21. All these commissions of inquiries are just part of the 90 days drama whose main theme is “Hiring and Firing”. Nothing concrete will come out of them.A shear waste of time.

  22. LT you are getting very shallow. This is not worth the paper it has been printed on. It is a very unprofessional article and you should have thought twice before getting it from the Times of Zambia otherwise you credibility is about to go up in flames

  23. Ba Malama, Managing Editor, whatever you are called is this an article you can sanction to be for public consumption. Political appointees bwafya. Please advertise these jobs and get credible people and not bootlickers. No offence meant to MMD Chief Bootlicker you are in a class of your own, a class of objective and analytical minds

  24. RB is quity by association…lol…seating next to accused… i guess this enquries are just starting…I think as a country we dont learn..that political fights can be settled by court system…LPM wasted so much monies trying to pin down FTJ,,,,I’m afraid Sata may be going the same route…

  25. How many days are remaining before 90 days elapses. Wina azalila after 23 December. Someone, please don’t mention 5 years because 5 years was not part of the campaign promises. Well, at least I never heard, but I sho (sure) heard 90 days unmistakenly.

  26. Rubbish and low quality submissions. Why didn`t they resign if they were under political pressure? They are all corrupt! And
    Zambian Villager thanks for clarifying that Mukela Muyunda is a son to Madam Marvis Muyunda. I thought so—– because i know abit about her.

  27. People patience, these are legal proceedings, you gotta calculate your moves capture a king- dont you play chess? RB was a powerful man in this country a month ago, he still got some influence and legal connections. Even if found wanting do you think the government can just devulge all the information to the public before the matter goes to court? Come on people think for a minute coz this involves politics and in politics, it’s not always as it appears to be. Wait and see that is why it is called “intelligence”

  28. #34 yes you are right KALEBU ZULU fled the country in the 90’s and specifically lived in YORK
    in UK.After everything was quite he came back and re-invested the money in the name of MEANWOOD.He is a known crook to most of us.He claimed he borrowed money from Friday
    NDHLOVU…….what bullshit. He has been busy selling land which belong to Michael Galaun’s
    father Abe Galaun at prices that ordinary Zambians can hardly afford.Government should have
    done the humble thing of repossesing all that land after 100 years of Galaun ownership for the Zambian people.PF please make sure that Zulu does not continue to exploit Zambians over the land in Kwamwena,Ibex[where he has built a 20 roomed house],Vorna valley and Ndeke.

  29. Robby Zulu always wanted to be near presidents. He used to date, Kafupi’s daughter Helen Chiluba. He chewed money out of DBZ and ran away to the UK. People lost money and he never paid restitution.

    The likes of Robby Zulu and Simon Miti are very dangerous to Zambia, lwenu!

  30. So far the only people who must answer are the people who signed the deal along with Meanwood directors. They must return the money. The then government must also answer for not intervening. This thing was not done in secret. We all knew about it at the time and we remember how Nyama Soya defended the transaction.

  31. Robinson Zulu is a crook of all times, will do anything to get rich, he stole from DBZ and ran away to UK and sneaked back when everyone was asleep, he is a sweet talker, a sniper, charmer but very childish and a big show off., he was with RB even at Mcwala ceremony, RB is a crook and very corrupt, how else was he close to Chiluba? let the law take its course. Simon Miti is Robinson’s close friend , infact Miti’s wife used to be Robinson’s girfriend! these guys are weired. Simon was recently seen at state house, God forbid if Sata appoints him again, Miti is sly and manipulative, he became state witness against Kapoko how? he was PS and surely is accountable for the K27 billion stolen fro MOH, there is a God up there who sees eveyrthing.

  32. masobela mu zambia. masobela. hatred yanu can not be sustained. leave rb alone. meanwood land is very expensive now. 20 by 20 is going for 600 million kwacha.

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