Wednesday, December 25, 2024

Government constitutes a Commission of Inquiry to Probe George Kunda

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Former Vice president George Kunda

GOVERNMENT has constituted a commission of inquiry to probe the alleged payment of K3.5 billion to George Kunda and Company when the former Vice-President was Minister of Justice. The K3.5 billion payment involves Sun Pharmaceuticals International and the Development Bank of Zambia (DBZ).

According to Zambia Daily Mail sources the Minister of Justice Sebastian Zulu will head the commission of inquiry, which shall also investigate the K190 million paid to Mr Kunda by a wireless company.

“The terms of reference are to investigate the sum of K190 million which was paid to honourable George Kunda, State Counsel, and K3.5 billion paid to George Kunda and Company in the case involving Sun Pharmaceuticals International and DBZ,” Zambia Daily Mail sources said.

Other members on the commission of inquiry are Dr Ngosa Simbyakula (deputy chairman), and three members, Deputy Minister of Finance Alfreda Kansembe, Ministry of Justice Permanent Secretary Mbololwa Muyaba and Lusaka lawyer Mwila Kombe. The commission of inquiry will be assisted by Emmerson Chawanda, Manson Gondwe and Ebby Katukula.

On Wednesday, Daily Mail investigations exposed Mr Kunda’s past dealings, including his law firm – George Kunda and Company- “inappropriately” receiving a total of K3.5 billion from Sun Pharmaceuticals Internationals and DBZ.

The payment traces its history to January 2010 when President Sata was then Patriotic Front (PF) opposition leader. It was first revealed on a programme aired live on QFM Radio.

The Daily Mail investigations revealed that Mr Kunda may face an official Government probe team to explain how the Ministry of Finance paid his law firm K3.5 billion without him declaring interest in the matter as a man who was working for the government and who also co-owned the law firm.

And Transparency International Zambia TIZ has implored the PF government to ensure that policies aimed at fighting corruption are fully implemented.

TIZ executive director Goodwell Lungu says Zambia has the opportunity to succeed in the fight against corruption under the current PF administration.

Mr. Lungu explains to QFM radio that the PF Government should therefore ensure that they are not distracted in the fight against graft.

He adds that TIZ is happy and content with the approach the current government has taken in fighting corruption.

Mr Lungu says the Patriotic Front has so far addressed the concerns that TIZ raised during the reign of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy MMD

66 COMMENTS

  1. Ba Kunda, just dont develop heart problems when you are found wanting, otherwise we will make sure you are prosecuted even in bed, being a lawyer we exepect you to lead by example, now look at this. hope its not true cozy my party pf is talking to much at the moment, even on issues they dont have full data.

  2. Another public money shredding commission of inquiry with a per-determined out come. Why not just arrest Hon Kunda and take him to court and lets see who will get their fingers burnt.

    This is a waste of people taxes. Scrap that commission and if you think Mr Kunda has a case to answer take it to court and where he will be accorded a chance to give his side of the story. This is a successful lawyer and he did not join politics to become wealth. He just after a call from his dear colleague the late Levy Patrick Mwanawasa asked him to serve his country.

    Unlike most failed people in government now Mr Kunda could live comfortably outside politics.

    Scrap the commission and take him to court straight if you are men enough

  3. Fast forward December 2016 AD. The govt has set up a commission of Inquiry to investigate how the previous PF govt single sourced Appollo construction to rehabilitate State House at a cost of $4m. Former Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda a shareholder in Appollo did not declare interest. The commision will also investigate how GBM milling was selected to be the sole supplier of mealie meal to the security forces. GBM milling is owned by the former PF Defence Minister Mr Godfrey Bwalya Mwamba.

    • the only problem with your dream is < alimwi PF will be in govt till 2032 mark my words, so its just a dream on your part

  4. Boot fImo fimo wasn`t he geeting a salary at all? And, wasn`t he getting double salary for the two positions he held?

    Is it me or was he doing it for charity? Remember he held that much cherished diplomatic passport. Do you know how the world opens up when you have got that passport? Sometimes learn to shut up Boot Fimofimo!

  5. Mediocre leadership! Do you really need a commission of inquiry to probe less than a million dollars? What is the work of Zambia Police, ACC, and DEC? How much has the PF government spent on these numerous commissions that have so far yielded nothing? We are repeating the same mistakes that MMD made under Mwanawasa when they constituted a task force on corruption that was duplicating the work of ACC. If you claim to be cost-conscious, then please use the existing legal frame work, than waste tax payers money on the so called commission of inquiries.

  6. Boot fimo fimo wasn`t he geeting a salary at all? And, wasn`t he getting double salaries for the two positions he held?

    Is it me or was he doing it for charity? Remember he held that much cherished diplomatic passport. Do you know how the world opens up when you have got that passport? Sometimes learn to shut up Boot Fimofimo!

  7. Yes the man should be investigated if suspected to have received money he did not cleanly deserve. But why a commission? Can’t our security wings (police, DEC, ACC and OP) do this work? We are definately loosing a lot of cash through these commissions. I wonder why these other wings can not be adequate for such!

  8. MWALAUMFWA ATI SATA…..bloggers…please try to follow the news…..nika leakage from somewhere that this man should be probed….one patriotic zambian brought this up and i support the lad..we need to work together to get back what belongs to the poor zambians…BIG UPS MAN….

  9. #11 That is not for me to answer. I was not and I am not Mr Kunda’s personal secretary.

    All am saying is take Mr Kunda to court.

    This commission will go like this. The people will sit and will get paid. They will call a few witnesses here and there and the commission will find Mr Kunda guilty and all PF cadres will cheer. Then Sata will say table it before cabinet..and blah blah..in the end the Commission can’t take action against Mr Kunda because he is not a government employee, so they will have to go to court and that is where the action will begin.

    So why waste money and time over a toothless commission of Inquiry constituted to come up with a per-determined verdict. Why not just take the man to court? That is my Beef

  10. @MMD Chief bootlicker
    THE MAN WHO BROUGHT UP THE ISSUE CAN NOT TAKE HIM TO COURT..THIS CAN ONLY BE DONE IF THE GOVERNMENT PROBES THIS MAN AND SEES IT FIT THAT HE SHOULD STAND TRIAL….HOW CAN HE BE TAKEN TO COURT BY AN INDIVIDULA or organisation AND ON WHAT BASIS are they going to solidify their accusations? only the government of the day can do that.

    • Analyst, pliz think, why not use the police/ACC. What is the job of the revamped police force or ACC? Why not give out of pocket allowances to a few officers from these institutions so that they investigate or merely their salary? Why give the Minister of Justice double/quadruple salaries? He gets his constitutional salary and allowances from the new NCC, the Zamtel CoI, the Kunda CoI? Why oh why? 2 wrongs don’t make a right. No they don’t . Even me a die hard of PF can’t stand for this.It has only been 92 days and people sitting on these inquiries are laughing already all the way to the bank. I can only imagine what they will doing after 12 months.

  11. There are 7 members of the commssion. How much will they be paid per sitting? How many sittings are they going to have? Will the cost justify the exercise or it is just another money spinning machine 4 PF cadres! Why havent they been given a time frame? And more importantly why hasnt the govt opted to use the existing institutions like DEC, ACC or even the Auditor General? Why is the PF relying heavly on commssions that are headed by PF Ministers and cadres. This is nothing but political persecution. If there are enough grounds to suspect Kunda then please leave the task to the institutions that are mandated to discharge these responsibilities!

  12. @16 Analyst. That is why the case should have been referred to either the ACC, DEC or Auditor General to establish the veracity of the accusations. A political Commission of Inquiry is not the best institution to use! What is the point of spending K6bn on a commission to determine whether or not there is a prima facie case to prosecute Kunda over a K3.5 bn and K190m payments? There is no sense in this. It seems the PF is scared of using existing institutions because they may come up with findings they are not looking for! As the Bootlicker has said they want pre-determined findings!

  13. 2016 it will be pf being probed. Just wait and see the drama. it is a political circus or entertainment. So don’t get excited for nothing. The problem i have with commission of inquiries on matters pertaning to corruption is that it is a waste of time and money. if one is supected to have been involved in corrupt practises why not take him or her to court direct to find the truth.

  14. Everything commission, commission at the exepense of our hard earned cash, is this more money these *****s promised us? i feal cheated by these grade 2`s, you are just busy rewarding your fellow shameless *****s in the name of commission, commission my ass!

  15. I saw it coming. Why politicians behave this way beats logic, You are supposed to save and not to steal, please let this be an eye opener for those serving in PF now. As for you boot licker, you are a nincompoop with no morals and you are even boasting of enjoying yourself in another country were people have belaboured to develop it. You must come back so that we set up another commission of enquiry to probe boot lickers, political prostitutes,sycophants and overzealous vuvuzelas like you, you should be ashamed of your self. Sha.

  16. #8,16 and 17.for your information GBM has been suppling mealie meal to the security forces for the past 7 years plus and your further contribution a premised on poor mens thinking.be above board

  17. LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF ZAMBIA MCS

    Dear Mr. President, I want congratulate you as president OF Zambia and the efforts you are making towards the fight against corruption. We hope that you are not alone in this crusade.
    I would like to express my disappointment with the operation at the ministry of Labour and immigration dept. These two intuitions needs complete over haul and needs close monitoring by OP, DEC, ACC and the Police. The labour commission is a very corrupt man since Rupiah Banda administration. At least his deputy is principled. MTN and AIRTEL have no reason to offload its technical staff to contractors in the name of cost cutting. Apart from oil, telecoms is second in terms of revenue generation.

  18. Are the COIs now a subustitute for govt investigative wings? What legal mandate do they have? Are they courts? If somebody cant see the plundering here,then I dont know.They are just playing to the gallery of PF cadres.People are already angry cos they have no jobs and no money in their pockets but these commissioners are the opposite.

  19. cont..These two companies have offloaded its entire technical staff from our universities to Chinese HUAWEI Company and HUAWEI offloads them to its contractor managing transport business. In this case MTN/Airtel makes their money, pass it to Huawei, then the contractor. By the time it reaches our Engineers it is a peanut. This is a Mockery Mr. President after govt suspend so much money on these engineers thru govt bursaries. MTN AND AIRTEL HAS FAILED TO DO THIS IN THEIR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN SOUTH AFRICA AND INDIA RESPECTIVELY. They take advantage of our system and previous regime’s corrupt practices. These institutions are among companies bank loaded Liato at the expense of masses of Zambians.
    This trend of labour out sourcing must be reversed and stopped.
    It can only take your word Sir

  20. #11 Italian Bunga Bunga, for a change show some sense. I agree wholly with your adversary on this occasion Bootlicker – that these matters should be investigated by existing institutions namely, the Police, ACC, DEC etc so that Mr. Kunda may be prosecuted if wrong was done. A commission of enquiry has a predetermined outcome and is a waste of taxpayers’ money. PERIOD

    One is enchanted to see this Govt take graft seriously because it is a very serious problem in Zambia, but unfortunately the approach needs serious review. At least let us start there, otherwise no real results will be achieved beyond naming and shaming – benefitting only the politicians. This does nothing for the poor and young jobless. MY DOLLAR.

  21. @6, MMD Chief Bootlicker:

    You obviously don’t know or understand how cases end up in court, do you? How can you just proceed to court in criminal offense (mind you, we are not talking about a civil case here!) without gathering evidence or doing investigation? How “senior” are you? Because this is basic knowledge—-and you want to call other people Kaponyas?

  22. @ Analyst, ati ba analystii, analyst wa finena chitole,why is your god father skipping the DEC and ACC.he has appointed his people there so they can`t sit on the findings why always splashing money on useless commission of inquiries where idioots are payed heftly for just sitting and farting then come up with a pre determined out come.vorseeeeeek.

  23. C omission of Inquiries should be scrutinize so that the legal framework and mandate through which they operate is backed by Law. Remember the Task force good intentions but it was an illegal entity trying to enforce the Law. Please we need guidance here. Ma Lawyers Please advise!  

  24. Ba Yambayamba read MMD Chief bootlicker’s comments carefully , comprehend and then you will understand that MMD Chief bootlicker knows what he is talking about. You and MMD chief bootlicker are both right that you establish facts (build up a case) and then take one to court. However what we are seeing is the institutions that are supposed to do that job (ZPS, DEC, ACC, OP) are being sidelined and all we are getting are commissiions of fimofimo who are plundering our meagre resources which we are supposed to use to lighten the burden of Zambians in 90 days!!! So let relevant institutions do what they should do period. What do you expect from a cadre like Sebatian Zulu chairing a commission?

  25. This Chikonde guy is married to Dr. Kasebas sister tefyo? Yes, Kambwili and that is the guys qualification for the diplomatic posting. THE ITURI RAIN FOREST

  26. Goodness gracious me,how many commissions of inquiry? This is a total waste of time and money.Lets scap the police,ACC because they are unnecessary in the PF govt.Any sucessful business person in zambia is deemed a crook and investigated.They are also guilty until proven innocent.By 2016 there will surely be more money in Sakwiba Sikota’s pockets.

  27. So state ZP, DEC, ACC etc are all incapable of investigating these simple transactions?

    Unfortunately the commissioners are going to get more than what Kunda is alleged to have been pain in shitting allowances.

    How many commissions of enquiry is constable going to constitutute….does he want all his relative to sit on one before his the end of his 5 years?

  28. Mulobezi,
    Yes stopping Corruption is very good development because rampant corruption is responsible for underdevelopment worldover. Money that should have been used for development ends up in a few peoples pockets. Even my grade 5 son knows that fact.

  29. For goodness sake, why appoint these useless committee of inquiry? If there is such a case against Kunda, are you telling me that DFEC or ACC could not have done a good job of it? I am getting really fed up with this new president. When is he going to start working instead of witch-hunting?

  30. I quite agree with MMD Bootlicker. We cannot go on appointing commissions of enquiry on anything and everything. Use the institutions in place to do this. George Kunda has his own commision of enquiry, will Rupiah have two? Also, look at the Presidents reaction when the commissions do not find what he wants. He berated Kingsley Chanda by saying the report was not ready. Truth is that the report was ready but did not have the preferred outcome. Hence the presidents decision to berate Kingsley and tell Alexander Chikwanda in the corridor to never bring him people like that. Commissions of Enquiry are an expensive way of dealing with straightforward issues. What happened to all those commissions of enquiry that FTJ & Sata came up with in 91, 92 & 93? Have we gotten even one line of feedback?

  31. Does the law  not require the Chief Justice to constitute a tribunal when a complaint is made under the ministerial code of conduct has the power of the Chief Justice been usurped so that Mr Zulu and other commissioners can “legally” earn extra money?

  32. Mere tactics to divert the people from real issues – issues of development and poverty reduction. They are trying to alarm the nation and gain favour, but the populace have not been fooled.

  33. What are ZP, ACC there for? Why COIs all the time. Jobs for PF cadres? ZP alone should be capable of investigating these amounts of money.

  34. MMD bootlicker you are a very thoughtful and level headed person. I totally agree, government wings to deal with such issues are in place so why waste money on these commissions. Do we have advisors for the president? Incidentally has the commission to probe Zambezi Air been consituted as suggested by that PS? Any one with latest on the airline? Zambia a comedy of errors

    • Iwe shetani you are the one who posted all those posts. You can fool others not everyone. We chipumbu chamwana we!

  35. While I agree with GRZ effort to fight corruption, I feel the effort, time and resources committed to this cause is misaligned. The question is ; does PF GRZ has priority list??; stuff like services delivery (health, water, roads, education etc). All one hears is ‘ Liato has K2bn, Liato is summoned, ZP is looking for RB James, GRZ has issued a directive to stop copper export’. . I call this fire fighting. What we want to see is policy formulation that drive economic transformation, Service Delivery Improvement, enhancemenet of our global standing etc.

  36. #8 Ireena, you are spot on. Corruption is a human weakness, and if there are human beings in PF then we must find corrupt people too. If PF/TIZ are serious about fighting corruption the starting point is that they must start by investigating the source of wealth of the current leaders, and there are many of them who would be found wanting. Otherwise as you say, we shall forever be in the vicious cycle of investigating the corruption of the “previous lesdership”.

  37. But of course PF will not investigate itself, there are too many rotten eggs there. And remember that not too long ago, the Post said that they know that “honourable” Sebastian Zulu was tainted with corruption. And today in his “wisdom” Mr Sata appoints the same corrupt Zulu to head a corruption inquiry, what a joke!!! My Zambia has certainly become a stinking country.

  38. Cry all you want, post as many posts as you want under different names and with different avators, there is going to be a COI to probe red lip`s dealing. All you cry babies should work hard to get him some more diapers. You know the man has got shiki!

    Well done PF! Toot toot toot!

  39. Punish this Kunda stick guy he wasted our resources and mislead levy only to turn his back on the London judgement and lied that ka Chiluba never  stole anything

  40. #33, for your information any person can lay a criminal complaint in a subordinate court and the dpp can take it up. you are welcome!

  41. His Excellency Michael C. Sata. Some of you are arguing whether the “C” stands for Chilufya or Charles. Well you are both wrong the “C” in his Excellency’s middle name stands for “Commissionofinquiry” mukwai ni Michael Commissionofinquiry Sata.

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