Wed, 08 Nov 2017 12:18:56 +0000
By Oscar Malipenga
HAKAINDE Hichilema, who was exposed in the Paradise Paper’s worldwide expose of tax dodgers, yesterday denied ever evading tax.
But Muchinga Province Zambia Jubilee Coalition acting provincial coordinator Steven Mulenda has insisted that Mr Hichilema owes Zambians answers over paradise paper revelations Instead, the United Party for National Development (UPND) leader described revelations by Paradise Papers as irrelevant.
Speaking when he featured on Radio Phoenix programme dubbed “Let the people talk”, Mr Hichilema said revelations by Paradise papers were not new. He said revelations by Paradise papers were old.
Meanwhile, Mr Hichilema claimed that the police in Zambia use live ammunition to shoot citizens.
He also alleged that university bursaries were only given to relatives of PF leaders.
Mr Hichilema claimed that all the marketeers in Zambian markets were PF because UPND members were chased away.
Mr Mulenda said the Zambia Jubilee Coalition was dismayed that Mr Hichilema dodged answering the question arising from reported offshore accounts where his name had been mentioned. “Zambians are asking why this money has been hidden. They are asking when the money was hidden in offshore accounts and if this money or part of it could be proceeds from the privatization exercise in which Mr. Hichilema was involved and left Copperbelt Province economically crippled.
“Zambians are asking what the method of externalisation was and if taxes were paid on this money. They are calling on the Zambia Revenue Authority to state if it collected taxes or if indeed there was tax evasion,” Mr Mulenda said.
He said Zambians wanted to know if the money hidden in offshore accounts formed part of Mr Hichilema’s statutory declaration of assets prior to the 2016 elections and elections before it.
“If it be that he did not, then he lied under oath and legal sanctions must follow.
“While it can be argued that it is not illegal to keep money offshore, evidence gathered over decades show that politicians and individuals have used these safe havens to undermine governments, commit crimes, evade tax and engage in different illegal activities,” he said.
Mr Mulenda demanded that Mr. Hichilema comes out clean on the matters. He said being a public figure demanded that there must be transparency and called on Zambians to take particular interest in the matter.
