It's Zambia which owes Katumbi $7m - Mwaanga
It's Zambia which owes Katumbi $7m - MwaangaBy Webster Malido
Wednesday April 04, 2007 [04:00]
INFORMATION and broadcasting minister Vernon Mwaanga has said that it is in fact Zambia which owes DRC’s Katanga Province governor Moses Katumbi US$7 million for the maize he had supplied the government. According to Le Potentiel newspaper of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) of April 2, 2007, Mwaanga was in that country last weekend and met with President Joseph Kabila over recent security concerns. Mwaanga, who is also chief government spokesperson, further denied reports that Zambian soldiers had occupied Katanga Province's Moba territory.
On the alleged corruption charges against Katumbi in Zambia, Mwaanga said it was in fact the Zambian government that owed Katumbi US$7 million for the maize that he had supplied. On the alleged corruption cases which are supposed to be reactivated in Zambia against Katumbi, Mwaanga is reported by the newspaper as having said that it was just an ill-conceived fabrication by a certain Zambian newspaper with a view to destroying groups of people alleged to be involved in illegal trade of Congolese minerals, and whose trucks were blocked at Kasumbalesa for alleged fraudulent exportation.
Mwaanga's statement contradicts recent statements by the Task Force on Corruption that Katumbi's corruption cases were still active and that he would be arrested if he entered Zambia. According to Task Force on Corruption chairman Maxwell Nkole, Katumbi's cases are still in the High Court where ownership is being contested and that the Task Force has been conducting criminal investigations pertaining to Katumbi's involvement in the K53 billion maize deal part of which was diverted for his (Katumbi's) private use.
"Katumbi's involvement lies in the diversion of the amount of K17.2 billion to refinance Tamba Bashila and Chani Fisheries of which he was the owner. Both Tamba Bashila and Chani Fisheries are now restricted by Gazette notice," Nkole stated in explaining Katumbi's case. "In addition, the Task Force wishes to interview Mr Katumbi in respect of the arms deal case popularly known as the B.K. Facility in which the Zambian government lost approximately US $20 million for arms supply contracts which was never honoured."
Earlier in the year, Vice-President Rupiah Banda told Parliament that Katumbi would face the law if he entered Zambia because the Task Force on Corruption was still pursuing him. Vice-President Banda said the explanation that he had given Parliament over Katumbi in January was government's position and that the status quo for the Katanga governor once in Zambia still remained unchanged. He said he did not want to lie and say Katumbi was free to travel to Zambia when the position had been that he was wanted for questioning by the Task Force on Corruption.
"If Mr Katumbi was to come here, yes the law would visit him. This was my honest answer and I did not want to deceive my brother by saying no he is not wanted for questioning by the Task Force," he said.
And Mwaanga told President Kabila in Lubumbashi that it was not true that Zambian soldiers had occupied Moba territory in Katanga Province. "The storm is over, nothing can any longer overshadow the friendly relations and neighbourhood that exists between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo," Mwaanga was quoted after his meeting with President Kabila.
He said he was the bearer of a message from President Levy Mwanawasa to his counterpart Kabila, meaning that there was now a dissipation of all the misunderstanding which in the recent past had affected relations between the two countries. Mwaanga indicated that President Mwanawasa sent him to the DRC to refute information suggesting that Zambian soldiers had occupied the towns of Moba territory. He recalled the SADC countries' non-aggression pact to which both Zambia and DRC were signatories.
Labels: DOMESTIC DEBT, Moses Katumbi, VERNON MWAANGA
posted by MrK @ 4:12 AM
3 Comments:
Once aagain, Vernon Johnson Never Say No Mwaanga strikes again.
Obviously we are supposed to believe this guy VJ when all this time he has kept quiet and allowed all manner of statements to be issued.
Another cover up job done by the master himself.
Hard luck Zambia...!
Is Mwanawasa still jogging in the streets of London?
Nice that he has something good to say about Moses Katumbi.
in the "Da vinci code" politics only God knows what the real message means, it could be moise i know I still owe You Blah, or we sold your property to get back our money and by the way we have some change for you!
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