By CHARLES MUSONDA
A WITNESS has testified that Mwamona Engineering Technical Services (METS) used a fake Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) tax clearance certificate to get a contract worth K14 million from Zesco Limited.
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigations officer Ferguson Kombe said this yesterday before Principal Resident Magistrate Mwaka Mikalile in a matter METS board chairman Chishimba Kambwili is charged with his son Mwamba and two ZRA employees with obtaining pecuniary advantage.
They are charged with 37 counts of possessing more than K6 million suspected to be proceeds of crime, and uttering a false document to a public officer.
The two ZRA officers Brano Lukwesa Musonda and Mulenga Kapilima, who are based in Kitwe, are charged with preparing the alleged false tax clearance certificate to show that METS was tax compliant when in fact not.
Testifying in the matter, Mr. Kombe said his investigations revealed that METS was owing ZRA about K3.1 million in unpaid tax returns and could therefore only be issued with a tax clearance certificate for one to three months and not the one for the full year.
He said only the ZRA commissioner-general should decide whether or not to issue the certificate upon being satisfied with legal arrangements and not a junior officer.
Mr. Kombe said his investigations also revealed that METS had no “time to pay agreement” with ZRA.
He said his investigations also revealed that ZRA has no record or trace of the tax clearance certificate dated March 4, 2014 issued to METS as such documents are officially issued in triplicates.
Mr. Kombe said during interviews at ACC, Musonda admitted that the certificate would have been issued at the advice of Kapilima and that he admitted signing on it.
He said Zesco Limited paid Mwamona U$1.6 million as advance payment for the contract, which included construction of 33 settlers’ houses and 34 VIP toilets at the 14.8 megawatts Lunzua hydro power project in Mpulungu.
Mr. Kombe said Mwamona was also receiving huge sums of money from China Henan International Corporation for the subcontract it was awarded to work on the Mansa-Luwingu road and township roads in Mansa and Luwingu.
Mr. Kombe said there was about US$467, 000 that China Henan deposited in METS’ account held at Finance Bank Zambia Luanshya branch out of which US$341, 000 was withdrawn and transferred to a named Chinese national.
