Police deny Kanganja ‘payroll’ claim

Tue, 23 May 2017 12:53:40 +0000

By BENNIE MUNDANDO

POLICE have refuted claims that Pilatus Engineering Zambia proprietor Joseph Niclas Huwiler has put Inspector General Kakoma Kanganja on his payroll and that the BMW X6 the police chief drives belonged to the Lusaka businessman.

The Zambia Police Service yesterday challenged Mr. Huwiler to substantiate his claims and that of his estranged wife Charlotte Mukumbuta Huwiler that the BMW car belongs to her husband.

And video evidence has emerged showing how Pilatus Engineering Zambia Limited workshop manager Fabian Notti intimidated and refused to be arrested by Woodlands police officers for insulting Mrs Huwiler.

On Sunday, Mrs. Huwiler told the Daily Nation how her husband threw her and their four-year-old daughter out of the matrimonial home in April, and allegedly told her to go anywhere she thought she could get help, alleging that he had all the backing because Mr. Kanganja was on his payroll.

She said by coincidence, while at Force Headquarters on Saturday where she had gone to lodge a complaint against her husband, Mr. Kanganja drove in with the vehicle she identified to be among the vehicles belonging to her husband which she used to drive.

But in a statement yesterday, police public relations officer Esther Katongo said assertions that Mr. Kanganja was on Mr. Huwiler’s payroll and that he was driving one of Mr. Huwiler’s vehicles were not true.

“We would like to dispel assertions made by the source of the story who in this case is Ms. Huwiler’s wife that the IG is on the payroll of Pilatus Engineering Zambia Limited proprietor Joseph Niclas Huwiler. The statement attributed to Ms. Huwiler and purported to have been expressed by her husband is slanderous in nature as it lacks facts. We therefore advise the source of the information to always verify information before having it published.

“If it is true that Mr. Huwiler uttered such words, we challenge him to justify his claims. We would like to put it clear that the motor vehicle BMW X6 which Ms. Huwiler was referring to the said article is one of the 20 motor vehicles that were donated to Zambia Police by the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) on 24th February, 2017 at the hand-over ceremony that was held at ZRA offices situated on Dedan Kimathi road.

‘‘We therefore find the accusations by Mrs. Huwiler to be odd, unrealistic, libellous and malicious,” Ms. Katongo said.

See yesterday’s story and the full statement from police in  today’s edition on Page 8.