Maravi

Rupiah, Thandiwe differ over dollars

Rupiah, Thandiwe differ over dollars
By Joseph Mwenda
Wed 13 June 2012, 13:25 CAT

RUPIAH Banda has differed with his wife Thandiwe over the missing US$36,000 which has since been found within the house, family sources have disclosed. And according to family sources, Banda has since called on police to interrogate members of his household.

"The money has been found but now a problem has emerged between them (Banda and Thandiwe). It seems there is some mistrust and disagreements over the money and he (Banda) is not happy with what is going on," sources said.

Sources said it was not clear where the money was found but that it was a "bedroom issue".

"The money went missing from the bedroom and we heard that it was found but no one else at the house was questioned or suspected of stealing it. It is a bedroom issue, no one else is involved and that is what has caused a problem between them," the sources disclosed.

Sources said Banda has since called on police to re-enforce the security situation at his new New Kasama house in Lusaka.

"I understand he got a call from the Inspector General of Police over the weekend. She wanted to know if there was a problem following the case that was reported to Woodlands police, and the old man confirmed. He said the money had been found but he asked if police could go to his house to interrogate everyone there," the source said.

"The officers were supposed to go there on Monday but the former first lady did not allow it. She requested that the officers go there in the morning today (yesterday). Today when they went around 14:00 hours, they were told that they are too junior to handle the case. In fact they were told to go and report that the house needed more security."

Sources said the Criminal Investigative Detectives who were dispatched to Banda's house were not happy that they were not even allowed to go inside the house.

"I hear the officers spoke to the security personnel at the house that the former president should report to police headquarters tomorrow (today) at 10:00 hours," the source said.

But Banda last evening denied losing the money.

According to a statement issued by his office, no such kind of money had ever gone missing from Banda's house in recent times.

"President Banda has also never reported or sent any agent to any police station to report any such kind of missing money. In any case, President Banda's house is guarded by State security who should have been the first ones to be informed if any money had gone missing at the residence," read the statement in part.

"How ironic it is to have the case reported at Woodlands police station without the knowledge of the president's bodyguards and indeed the VIP protection unit stationed at his house! We demand that, in the spirit of responsible journalism, The Post retract the story and apologise to the president and the nation for misleading them with such blatant lies. Journalists can verify with Woodlands police station or indeed any police station to ascertain the truth about whether such a report was ever reported by president Banda or indeed any of his agents."

Banda also clarified that the house he was staying in was a private property rented by the Zambian government on behalf of the former president as per his retirement benefits and not his personal one.

On Monday, family sources disclosed that the president was keeping the money in his bedroom and discovered it missing on Wednesday morning last week.

"The old man says he counted the money before sleeping and he was shocked to discover it was gone the following morning. I am sure you would have known about it because he even reported the case to police, but you guys were busy with the UPND protest that day," sources said.

The sources said the former Head of State himself could not go to the police but instead sent someone to represent him.

And highly-placed sources at Lusaka Central police said the case had been withdrawn.

"We have nothing on that in the occurrence books, it seems he realised the magnitude of the case and the negative impact it would have on him so he called it off. It's like his son, Andrew didn't like the way this would turn out so he went to police and asked them to withdraw the matter," sources said.

When contacted for a comment, Andrew said he met with his father on Friday but the former president did not mention anything concerning the missing money.

Labels: RUPIAH BANDA, THANDIWE BANDA

posted by MrK @ 2:16 PM