SUSPECTS allegedly involved in a rip-off in which more than 118 Kilogrammes of gold was sold at a give-away price are expected to appear in court today on charges of abuse of authority of office, among others.
Inspector-General of Police Martin Malama said at a Press briefing yesterday that the police had handed over the matter to the courts of law for prosecution so that justice could prevail. Dr Malama said all those linked to the scam would appear in court today and advised members of the public, particularly political party cadres to realise that the investigations were not meant to persecute people but rather to ensure that justice was upheld.
“We call on cadres and other ordinary Zambians to realise that this is not a political fight but a criminal case which needs to be taken to the courts of law,” he said. Dr Malama disclosed that the gold scam case would be the first, among many others, that would be taken to court.
He said that the Zambia Police Service would work with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) in the fight against corruption and warned that the three agencies would not condone the vice in whatever form it came. “Zambia is on the way to development and so we will not condone people robbing the nation. Corruption is a cancer which will affect even our children if we condone it. We want Zambia to be a country we will proudly hand over to our children and grandchildren,” he said.
Dr Malama said that corruption would also be fought even within and outside the ranks of the police, ACC and the DEC so that Zambia could develop. He urged Zambians to report all forms of corruption to law-enforcement agencies. Prominent among those that have been linked to the sale of the gold are immediate past president Rupiah Banda’s son, James, Press aide to the former president, Dickson Jere, former secretary to the treasury, Likolo Ndalamei, former DEC commissioner, Aaron Zulu and a Swiss national, Nicolae Buzaianu.
He commended Zambians for giving the police time to investigate the case and ensuring that investigations were not jeopardised.?The gold was forfeited to the State in 2007 after it was seized from two Zimbabwean nationals by the DEC. It is alleged that the said gold was later sold, around July this year, at a give-away price of about K19 billion.
Dr Malama said the Zambia Police Service would also take the corruption fight to its traffic section so that it could stop the exchange of money at checkpoints. “In the next few weeks, we will not allow corruption even in our ranks. If anyone is caught in corrupt practices, the one giving the money and the one receiving the money will both be held,” Dr Malama said.
Meanwhile, Dr Malama disclosed that the police would also investigate reports of pornography at the Zambia Centre for Accountancy Studies (ZCAS) in Lusaka where students were allegedly filming each other and producing various pornographic materials. “I am glad that I am with DEC officials here, we will look at that case as well and investigate it,” he said.
[Times of Zambia]
This story is based on rumors, when someone is called for interviews by police does not mean he is linked to the scam, mainly they call people for potential witnesses and not necessary as a culprit, so times can be sued by naming people who have not been formally arrested
Ati rip off price. The gold belonged to zim. A leopard catches impala. Mr hyna grabs the meat by force. mr lion moves in and mr hyna crys foul.
LT is boring. Same news from yesterday. So much is happening around and you just want to stick to the same old news. B O R I N G
#2, If you ave already read the story well and good. It maybe boring to you alone.There are alot of bloggers who are seeing it for the first time. and why comment if its boring…just shut the f up!
This Gold confiscated from Zimbabweans, where did it originate from? If it was not Zambian Gold, why capitalise on it by demanding a huge amount of national revenue? Does our national budget include a component of national revenue expected from such type of illegal trade? If that Gold does not originate from Zambia, then I find it shameful to use public resources to pursue a by-the-way Gold money.
But gold was found on zambian soil, then zambia has a right to talk about it and probably it could be zambian gold, why was is it sold in zambia we need to know more about it, was the past govt only aimed that corruption? was corruption the in thing only selling at giveaway prises but ba RB
Send them to prison and urgently please. James needs to spend sometime in jail.
And, hey his dad should be joining him soon.
The Cruise Liner is sailing.
Kapaso more popcorns please! So we won`t be reading Mr Jere`s posts (Capitalist, Bootfimofimo) on here for sometime then! Nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Remember that US Dollars in cash were found on Presido Sata and confiscated by the SA govt. If you don’t give a reasonable explanation as to how you came into possession of materials suspected to have been illegally smuggled into a country, you forfeit your contraband to that state. That’s international law. How many people have had foodstuffs confiscated at the airport and destroyed?
Well mentioned, if the goods are destroyed then there is no benefit for both the orignal owner and the confiscator. Even when poachers are caught with meat, the magistrate does not sell it but gives out freely. In the Gold case, whatever amount it is sold does not amount to a loss of revenue for the government simply because it was not part of our budgeted income. Unless if someone corruptly benefited from its sale, then it makes sense because corruption should not be tolerated. Concentrate on benefitting from copper sales.
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