President Hakainde Hichilema has refused to fire Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Stanley Kakubo over allegations that he was involved in acts of bribery during his visit to Sinoma Cement recently.
Some people have called for the dismissal of Mr. Kakubo who was pictured receiving a bag from an unidentified Chinese national at Sinoma Cement in Lusaka almost two weeks ago.
At the time of the incident that went viral on social media, Mr Kakubo clarified that he visited Sinoma as a private citizen with a view to ordering some pockets of cement and they gave him a branded calendar and a pen as a souvenir.
At a press conference in Lusaka on Monday, President Hichilema said he had not found Mr. Kakubo guilty after hearing from him.
The Head of State said Mr. Kakubo has assured him that he never got any bribe from Sinoma Cement.
President Hichilema said if there are people with more information linking the minister to bribery, they must report to law enforcement agencies.
“I was questioned when I was away for a few days. I took four days off from your house. While I was away there was an issue with the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Stanley Kakubo). That the Minister of Foreign Affairs got a bribe from Sinoma Cement. I was away. I called the Minister of Finance… Minister of Foreign Affairs sorry . I got in touch with him. What is this I have heard? The first thing I did was not to read what was on social media and continue reading. Was to get in touch with the minister himself. Minister have you seen what is mix, pre-mix. I said continue, continue. He explained. He said he got an envelope with a calendar and a diary inside,” President Hichilema said.
“Maybe he should not have done that (accepting an envelope with a calendar and a diary). It is him talking to him. I said what were you carrying in that envelope? Because it is my duty, I am the supervisor to the vice president, in case you are not aware. I am the supervisor to the ministers. I am the direct supervisor I have to ask and I asked on behalf of the people of Zambia. And he gave me the answer and he said perhaps Mr. President I should not have taken a calendar and a diary. ‘I didn’t get paid anything’. What else am I supposed to do? I must fire him? No. If anyone knows an answer better than he gave me, follow the law. Let’s take the process but on your behalf I took the opportunity to ask him because we are clear none of us should take any bribe for anything. It is very clear but that includes none of you as citizens as you. If anyone has more information let us know because we are accountable to you but you said he got money to bring that hotline or tip somebody,” President Hichilema said.
When the Kakubo-Sinoma incident was fresh, former Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kabala said that it’s unprecedented for a Minister of Foreign Affairs to interact with an ambassador outside his office alone saying it is beneath his office.
In a post reacting to Mr Kakubo’s explanation, Mr Kalaba said that the minister should give a better explanation than the one he has given, wondering how was the Minister buying cement on a holiday and why should a company give a calendar to the Minister in mid-April.
Mr Kalaba also wondered why the Ambassador meet the Minister when he was doing private errands, before adding that he himself was minister of foreign affairs for 4 years, never did he meet Ambassadors privately outside his office, and that even when he met them at foreign affairs, it was in the presence of officials.
“And by the way, Calendars are never delivered in suitcases,” concluded Mr Kalaba’s statement
LETS CHECK ON WHERE THE PRE MIX WAS DELIVERED
AND THE CEMENT
THIS SHOULDNT BE TOO DIFFICULT
THOSE IN THE KNOW PLEASE REPORT THIS !!!
AND THEN POST ON HERE
LAW ENFORCEMENT CAN RESPECTFULLY ASK SINOMA CEMENT IF ANY PURCHASEC WAS MADE
Edgar Lungu was severally advised to fire certain ministers but kept on asking for evidence. Actually it was not evidence that was lacking.. what was lacking was the courage to fire these ministers because of their huge following. Unfortunately those huge followings somewhat disappeared on 12 August 2021… history has this irritating habit of repeating itself unfortunately.
When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead it didn’t mean that there were no other people that died during the same time whose families wanted to be equally raised. Lazarus had fine sisters, especially ka Martha. There are other Ministers that are misbehaving and will soon be fired. Read the book of John 11
HH7 you will never fire corruption especially in your cabinet if you go about undertaking your own investigations from your phone by contacting your minister. That’s the reason why you have OP they would have given you a report if you were really interested…I mean instead of asking Kakubo you should have asked him how many bags of cement he bought and why he was buying from the factory? This is no different to Lazy Lungu’s stance when he was asked to fire Dr. Chilufya…
Yeah the explanation from the President is or was not sufficient. I thought these guy’s first lesson handed down by the President to them was understanding the ministerial Code Of Conduct. It was all over in the media. The answer given by the President is not enough. Investigative journalists should hone in on this issue. You have work to do. There seems to be a big gap between rule of law rhetoric and walking the talk. The minister needs to be investigated to serve as a deterrent to would-be “calendar grabbers.” And if he is clean, he will be found clean. In any case there is a proper channel to receive souvenirs, calendars or what not.
To an extent I agree , he should have relived the minister if his duties……..
Maybe more evidence will surface……
Corruption fight is not so much about evidence as it is about perception.
If you are to have a clean fight that inspires confidence, then any negative perception must be acted upon (one way or the other), otherwise any strides you may have made will amount to nil.
This shouldn’t surprise anyone with sense. I said last time that birds of the same feather flock together. Hh is a corrupt man to the core. Those of us privileged to have worked with him pre 2011 and as CIA at state House we know this man’s dealings and how he became an over night millionaire. So no surprise here basir. Ba upnd 2.8 how’s your body temperature and BP? Hahaha. Ati change haha
Who will move that stuck needle on that record for the nation to hear something progressive?
It was Lungu singing the line. Now it is Hakainde. Are we doomed to this song forever?
I think there is a strong lack of evidence to fire the minister here. He certainly had a plastic bag with him, and we can only speculate on the contents of that bag (not a suitcase).
Firing on speculation would be stupid.
Whether HH likes it or not, this has disappointed many Zambians and will come to bite him one day. Besides if Kakubo had his party’s interests at heart, he should have tendered his resignation. He only cares about himself and his job. Thats why HH should have fired him. What about his past fraud case at Barclays? Has kakubo or ABSA refuted the story? Op and UPND didn’t.do their due diligence. How can a fraudster be awarded a ministerial job? HH you need to act quickly and fire this chap.
Chiza Chirwa – Chinese dont give cheap presents like calenders …really laughable…they did this in 2017 whe they invited all Provincial Ministers like Bowman to China for fully paid training but it was not they were looking for the weakest links in the group to further their interests. The same thing has happened but HH7 has failed to act to send a message, this isnt about evidence but more to do with professionalism and adhereing to civiil service code of conduct. I guess we never learn from history.
This is like Boris Johnson in UK with his partygate: one rule for the people and one rule for the elite. Sorry Mr President, bad move. You start to behave like Edgar China Lungu: he also thought he got away with everything.
A child steals s lump of meat from the pot and as the mother catches him he throws it into his mouth swallows. No evidence? Case closed because the child claims that he was only checking if the meat was cooked? Why not count the pieces in the pot, why not check the child’s hand for signs that he had not touched any meat? His word is enough?
@Tarino Orange. I always like your comments. Fundamentally, on this particular incident, I bet you in a managerial position somewhere. Would you definitely be swayed to make a judgement or say make a decision based on such an alluded photo op and short report? I bet short to say, not until facts are known can a good manager ought to make a decision.
@12. Ministerial code of conduct says to accept gifts if they are less than K2000, and in the event that the minister cannot ascertain the value (watch, earings, signed photos etc) they are to refuse the gifts. He says it was a calender and a pen given in the company’s branded bag.
As it stands, you are speculating on what the Chinese gave. It could be 50-50, and that’s not a convincing reason to fire anyone.
In fact, the President was offered land at the so called treason road, this is something highly illegal but most people kept quiet.
I am very disappointed with the type of investigations done by my respected President. true the President should have investigated in a different way. even the calendar to be brought as evidence. there is no way a calendar would be given this time of the year. Common sense for those who do not have one.
there is strong evidence that what could be in the briefcase are USDs.