1: The Mukula trees were harvested by someone in the forests of Muchinga and North Western province, the illegal harvesters were never seen and never caught?
2: The timber was processed somewhere at a timber milling sawmill, still no one saw these people do it?
3: The timber was loaded into trucks and transported to either Katima Mulilo, Chirundu or Kazungula border post, no one noticed?
4: The trucks went through dozens of police check points and ZNS check points and no one noticed these trucks carrying illegal Mukula?
5: The trucks went through ZRA customs and also customs authorities on the other side of the border in Kazungula, Chirundu or Katima Mulilo border and no one questioned them?
6: These trucks went through various neighboring countries, no questions asked, until the Mukula was put on a ship to Malaysia, it’s only in Malaysia where it was seized.
Let’s use common sense on this matter and draw conclusions ;
1: Whoever was Exporting this Mukula had authority to order the Zambia Police to let the trucks through all checkpoints.
2: Whoever was Exporting this Mukula had authority to order the ZNS to let the trucks through all ZNS checkpoints.
3: Whoever was Exporting this Mukula had authority to order the ZRA customs to let it the trucks through the border without any questions asked.
4: Whoever was Exporting this Mukula had the kind of authority and diplomatic power that he or she was able to ask the governments of neighboring countries to allow his trucks through and they obliged.
5: Whoever was Exporting this Mukula did not however have enough sway over the Malaysians, they have no connections to him, he is not regarded highly there and they went on to seize his consignment of illegal timber, ultimately the operation failed !!
Fellow Zambians, these are reasonable conclusions, this is the only way this timber would have got all the way from the forests of rural Zambia to the ports of Malaysia.
Think about any person in Zambia that can control ZP, ZNS, ZRA, have influence in neighboring countries but not enough influence in Malaysia.
That’s the person behind that operation. !!!