Wed, 02 Nov 2016 08:52:32 +0000
BANK of Zambia (BoZ) legal counsel Leonard Kalinde should immediately resign from the Central Bank or should have his contract terminated for professional misconduct by advising the Central Bank to conceal evidence in a case in which the liquidation of Access Financial Services Limited (AFSL) and Access Leasing Services Limited (ALL) was mismanaged by a clique of few individuals, Brebner Changala has demanded.
Mr Changala who is civil rights activist said the ruling by LAZ that found Dr Kalinde guilty of misadvising the Central Bank had cleared any doubt, if there was any that AFSL and ALL were deliberately mismanaged by the Bank of Zambia through its lawyer in connivance with the liquidator, Marshall Mwansopelo.
Mr Changala said it was unacceptable that BoZ, an institution that was created on the basis of public trust to manage and regulate financial institutions had turned out to be the one engaging in financial criminality by mismanaging institutions it was mandated to regulate.
He said in an interview that the manner in which the liquidation of AFSL and ALL was managed by the Central Bank left much to be desired as the two financial institutions were liquid with no signs of becoming insolvent at the time of their liquidation. Mr Changala said AFSL and ALL were looted and plundered by a small clique of individuals who were entrusted to manage the affairs of the two financial companies. He explained that AFSL and ALL were plundered through a systematic scheme in which the directors of the company were made to pay inflated legal and management fees.
“The ruling by LAZ that Dr Kalinde breached his professional ethics by deliberately misadvising the Central Bank to conceal evidence that was going to expose the mismanagement of the liquidation of AFSL and ALL has cleared any doubt, if there was any that the two institutions were plundered by the Bank of Zambia. Dr Kalinde has been found wanting by both the Supreme Court and LAZ. In fact, LAZ just fell short of either suspending him or blacklisting him from practicing law in the country.
Dr Kalinde must therefore vacate his office or should be fired as he is no longer fit to hold a public office such as that from BoZ. Dr Kalinde has been digressed professionally and he must go,” Mr Changala said. Mr Changala has appealed to the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance to immediately start re-organising the Bank of Zambia legal department and ensure that all those who were involved in the looting of AFSL and ALL faced sanctions.
He said Dr Kalinde did not act alone in the mismanagement of the liquidation of AFSL and ALL as there were other senior Central Bank officials were involved in the looting of the two financial institutions.“AFSL and ALL were liquid at the time it was taken over by the Bank of Zambia. One would have thought that management at the Central Bank was going to re-organise management structure of the two financial institutions and not liquidating them. AFSL and ALL had a lot of money both in cash and assets and could not have been liquidated,” Mr Changala said.
