By ADRIAN MWANZA
SPECULATION is mounting why the Anti Corruption Commission is involved in the seizure of trucks laden with mukula logs when there are other law enforcement agencies tasked with this. Citizens Democratic Party leader Robert Mwanza yesterday wondered how the ACC found itself in the mukula saga when police and other security agencies were firmly in charge of this. Mr Mwanza said there was more than meets the eye and said the mukula trade had a security committee involving various wings who were well versed with the goings on in the sector.
This follows the seizure of about 47 trucks loaded with Mukula tree logs enroute to neighboring Namibia and Zimbabwe, with unknown final destinations have been intercepted and seized by the ACC. ACC spokesperson, Queen Chibwe said 24 Trucks were intercepted in Mongu on October 22nd, enroute to Walvis bay, Namibia, while 23 Trucks were intercepted in Chirundu on October 27th enroute to Zimbabwe through Chirundu Border.
Ms Chibwe said the 47 trucks were found to have no required documentation to transport the Mukula logs. She said the Mukula, which was being ferried by Trucks belonging to ACK General Suppliers was seized by the Commission, together with the Trucks, in accordance with Section 58 of the Anti-Corruption Act No. 3 of 2012. Daily Nation investigations have however revealed that the original owners of the logs in question were the Zambia Agency for Persons with Disabilities (ZAPD), a government agency.
In 2019, ZAPD contracted ACK General Suppliers to harvest and export Mukula on its behalf from its land in Luapula. The transactions were being done with the full authorization of government with payments for necessary documentation being made by ACK General Suppliers as per agreement. Several containers of Mukula have been exported under the arrangement until government halted the export early this year to ascertain how much was going out.
About 100 containers of Mukula are reported to awaiting export under the same arrangement. When contacted, Ms Chibwe could not confirm the deal but said the commission was not convinced the documentation that the company had. ‘’What I can tell you is that the reason we intercepted the trucks was that they did not have proper documentation,’’ she said.
Ms Chungu said that the Commission would get to the bottom of the matter but as at now they had reasons to impound the trucks that were found in Mongu and Chirundu. She said investigations into the illegal harvesting and transportation of Mukula by some suspected politically exposed persons were still ongoing.
