TASKFORCE on Corruption executive chairperson Maxwell Nkole has said his organisation will pursue the case of US $20 million arms deal and the Carlington maize saga for as long as it has the mandate.
A non-governmental organisation has, however, called for the disbandment of the organisation following the acquittal of former president Frederick Chiluba saying it has outlived its usefulness.
Mr Nkole said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that $28 million was a lot of money for Zambians to forego hence the resolve by the Taskforce to pursue the two issues to their logic conclusion.[quote]
Mr Nkole said all those calling for the disbandment of the entity should tell Zambians how they intended to pursue the two scandals saying the Taskforce’s preoccupation was to recover the funds and prosecute whoever benefited from them in any way.
He said that on the Carlington maize deal involving $8 million, the whereabouts of one of the two masterminds, Alexander Legalt, a Canadian, have been discovered while the other one, Arri Ben Menashe, an Arabian, was still on the run.
“These are the two key people whom we have been hunting for since 2003 and it has not been easy because these are trans-national crimes,” he said.
He said that the organisation had received information that Legalt was in jail in one of the states in American and would face another sentence on October 10 this year for brokering other fraudulent deals.
Mr Nkole reiterated that the $8 million was obtained from the Zambian Government for the procurement of the maize but the commodity was never delivered.
On the $20 million arms deals, Mr Nkole said that the Zambian Government paid out $20 million for the purchase of arms but the weapons were never delivered to Zambia.
He said but the Taskforce had now established where the money was deposited in one of the banks in Europe and could not just move in until after their requests were responded to by the relevant wings of the involved country.
On the disbandment, Mr Nkole said that he had no problem with that if the people of Zambia and the appointing authority decided that doing away with the entity was the route to take.
He said he was aware that the Taskforce had been under threat since 2006 but for as long as it remained with the mandate, it would continue discharging its responsibilities by pursuing all the cases lined up.
[Times of Zambia]
Zed is just like a circus! Very hard indeed to be proud of this country. What a shame.
hiliba is a thief
So what haz the Task Force been persuing all theze years, just the $500,000 State House petty cash?
Here is my suggestion. We Keep the Task Force on condition that Max and his team offer their services for free. And if they secure a conviction, they get a cut from the $28m. HOW IS THAT FOR A DEAL?
absolute nonsense, another ten years, this man is sick
What a waste of money this rubbish Task Force is! Thank God my tax goes to the Queen!
This thing must and should be disbanded soon. It’s about time it existed. Ba Nkole find a munda and keep yourself busy. Zambia needs some development. This was just a money making scheme for Levy and his boys. How can you say fighting corruption when all the efforts are only targetted at one individual. This to me lacked the appearance of what one could sensibly consider a fight against corruption.If I were you Mr. Nkole, I could use my position to present a serious paper on how best we could fight corruption in a more permanent and comprehensive manner, peradventure people may think you could still be useful elsewhere. At the rate you are going, your days in that office are numbered.
Chiluba is a number 1 dribbler and he has scored again:
Chiluba 1- Zambia 0
The ball has been placed in the center again and away we go in the second half of this political game.
RB do Zambians a favour dìsband Task Force. Its just a waste of taxpayers money
mwebantu let the man keep his job mwe
Mr Nkole is a spokeman for the parallel government in Zambia. This parallel governmemt mainly consists of the NGOs and certain sections of private media. Nkole and his friends are angry that the free ride has come to an end. Let them look for alternative income and not continue lying and continuing stupid investigations with no value at all. NGOs are scared stiff of regulation, Bwezani needs to do it the way our friends across Zambezi river have regulated their NGOs.
If Nkole and his handlers can offer free services to investigate and prosecute”outstanding issues” , then we the zambian people will know their commitment to this fight. Otherwise this thing has been discredited and is full hatred and bitterness. Cut losses your Nkole and concentrate on more productive issues than trying to justify an entity which is firstly illegal and secondly was birthed in fear and anger.
Task Force …. Should be disbanded. Cases take time to be resolved, and we are wasting a lot on them.
Nkole and his team have failed the zambians. Their services should be terminated, they have spent more money than was stolen to suite their pockets to investigate these matters. Enough is enough close task forces nobody need their services.
Well said Nkole.
You have to pursue these issues to their logical conclusion.
Thieves must be pursued at any cost.
This man is fighting for his job. Instead of talking about corruption he should just say he cannot afford to lose this job.
Task Force has failed.
mulecm are you being sarcastic (I mean in english not the way it`s used in Zambia)?
#14 Mulecm
At any cost?
Please read #13. That’s tax payers’ money, our money, going into Nkole’s pocket.
But this Nkole and his jokers why were they wasting time on state house petty cash when there were million dollars to deal with
I strongly echo the sentiments made by bloggers above, the Task Force should be disbanded, it is a waste of tax payers’ money. Those chaps in the task force are now swimming in big money. Shame on you Nkole and team, hand over the arms deal and the Carlington maize saga cases to ACC, DEC and the police, maybe they will do a better job.
#17 UK-Zed Observer
ati our money you are not even paying tax to the Zambian government and you say our money mulesekesha imwe abroad
#4 that one on target. A lot of sense.
Only a f o o l would be happy to pay tax to a sorry country like Zambia. Thank God mine goes to the Queen!
I agree with all those who suggest that we give the Task Force another chance because the amount of monies involved is too large. We want the Task force repay the long suffering people of Zambia by securing a conviction and recovering the assets and cash stolen by these criminals.
My take on this fight against corruption charade is that it was started by FTJ to distract us from the electoral fraud of 2001 so the Levy could consolidate his position and just as he anticipated we bought it. The issues that Mr Nkole is bringing up now, the arms and the maize, is the reason we took away his immunity if you recall. The question is so how did we end up pursuing a petty cash case? The case was lost when we let Katumbi off the hook. So I don’t even know what the fuss is? We allowed ourselves to be dribbled we didn’t keep our eyes on the ball. Have you watched wag the dog? “If the dog won’t wag the tail the tail will wag the dog”The lesson is when we vote a government into office lets not go to sleep. It’ not the end but the beginning.
#20 You can wrong everybody called Zambians wherever they are contribute money to the national treasury in one form or another. Only if you are Zambia without relatives back home. If you visit Zambia you buy things and everything bought in Zambia has a VAT tax even when you send money to you village relative, if they go and buy talk time, they still pay VAT that goes to the Govt so don’t laugh we all contribute to Zambia coffers in one way or another
That is the money the poor people need to improve access to basic services
Task Force is a charade and a waste of tax payers money. We need to strengthen the existing law enforcement agencies and let them do their job. That is the way forward. If Nkole is worth his salt he should be seconded to one of the existing law enforcement wings. How many special wings are we going to have with this apparent raise in “corruption” cases. We should be thinking of coming up with sustainable structures for posterity’s sake. Stop wasting our money. Ala ifya bupuba fyachila muno chalo. Give us a break twapapata
Carlington Maize scandal? Nawakwi wapya munzi!!.But why did they have to wait this long.I feel RB is pushing something here to silence the likes of Nawakwi who were at the helm of he carlington scandal when she was FM
These guys at Task Force are a big joke. They took a case of chiluba to court, it has lasted 8 years and a lot of money has been spent on task force to secure back the money from chiluba but the end result has been zero. CHILUBA 1 VS TASK FORCE 0. FIRST HALF.
Ba Nkole mwayamba uku sabaila nomba…stick to one case and pursue it to conclusion. People will now start thinkin kaChiluba the kelenka is right that you’re fighting for survival. But mwe Lesa, aka kamuntu kanshi aka ka sakala, mwakapangile shani? He’s even using your name in vein, proclaiming how you have delivered him, awe mwandini, kaChiluba!!
Nkole what magic are you going to use now? So we give another eight years on tax payers money. fffFF
I thought Task Force (TF) was formed to investigate FTJ now that he is not guilty abolish the Task Force alot of money has been pumped in to run the TF. Better for us to go back to ACC they are better than the TF. If they could not find any evidence in FTJs case what are the chances that they will find evidence in the maize deal? Nkole your job is numbered.
I remember admiring a benz S class meant for TS when it was just formed. Ba Levy rest in peace.
So this Task Force still gets paid for fackal. RB, Please get rid of them now.
Am one of them with an idea that the task force has outlived its usefullness as it has done nothing but just consumed more task payers money .so let it be disbanded ,period as guys like nkole just wnat to see more days of fat checks at the expense of my grandmother in shagombo who badly needs the money
GRZ had spent $10 000 000 by 2007 trying to solve these cases. The task team is also eating a lot of money.
That gravator in 25 Booty irritates! But then again it`s alright for people taken from a certain village in eastern province who did not know net banking existed in Zed.
#33 Iwe ci Kwanza ifimasele! Sha! You probably didn`t know that was supposed to be F YOU SEE KAY (letters as they are pronounced) and then all! I understand your frustration but not insele.
I propose that Ian Khama send his troops north to take over. That is the only way we will get rid of this hideous monster called corruption!
I pity Max Nkole on continuing with Carrington Miaze Deal & Arms. Those are big things, I doubt if these 2 cases will achieve any tangiable results. I thought the maize deal was talked of lot and involved FTJ, Auntie Eddie, Mathan,FRA and many foreigners. At one point others ended in Prison for trumped up charges the rest is history. THe arms deal involved a lot of hidden items and pipo today some of them are holding very senoir and influncial positions North of us. Reopening such cases will just take us backwards for another 10yrs. It has taken 7 solid yrs to dispose off a case involving US$500,000 what about US$28M. Max and his team may have have professional wiil but there is no political will to continue with such cases. The politicians are preocupied with contunuity. Lets d meting els
Last time before Max Nkole became Executive Chairman (Task Force) there was a case involving delivery of a Hippo carcus by a Chipata baes OP guy and Max refused to settle the bill on allegations that it was rotten. How did that case end. When one resorts to buying and seling DINGI (WILD MEAT) those are signs of serious financial problems one is found in. Immediately he was appointed it was all Zee. This man and team should not be allowed to milk our Treasury any more. Zambia can continue with or without Chiluba, if FTJ stole and was aquitted on a technicality then well and Gud for him. We have spend to much taxpayers money and the returns are not impressive. Human judgement others get away with whilst other like the man from Itezhi Itezhi got 18months for stealing 12stick of consulate.
Let us prosecute chilubatill he dies
Chiluba ( Congolese) , RB ( Zimbabwe) , they certainly have agreed a deal in which RB will get a cut from from chiluba’s hidden loot, they both don’t give a dawn about our country as they are both privileged foreigners.