I WAS A MINI PRESIDENT, LUSAMBO TELLS COURT AS HE OPENS DEFENSE

I WAS A MINI PRESIDENT, LUSAMBO TELLS COURT AS HE OPENS DEFENSE

PEOPLE in the public gallery along with court officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Court were almost falling and rolling on the floor with uncontrollable laughter when Bowman Lusambo said during his time as Copperbelt Province minister, he was a mini president.

Appearing before magistrate Faidess Hamaundu in a corruption-related case, the Bulldozer said he had supervisory powers over the office of the vice-president, the army among other government agencies.

Lusambo is facing 10 corruption-related charges before the Economic and Financial Crimes Court; among them one count of corrupt acquisition of public property, five counts of possessing property suspected to be proceeds of crime, three counts of tax evasion and one count of conspiracy to defraud.

He is jointly charged with his wife Nancy Manase for possessing four houses in Silverest Gardens, Chongwe which were suspected to be procceds of crime.

Immediately he took the stand, Lusambo clothed himself with the powers of an adjudicator to vindicate his wife.

“First and foremost, I want to put on record that my wife, Nancy Natasha Manase, she is wrongly in this court, there’s nothing that she has done,” he explained.

Lusambo said he became a business mogul at a tender age and he supplied audio sound system to his customers together with his late brother.

“As Bowman Lusambo, I was not born in 2015 or 2021, I was born in 1976 from Mr and Mrs Lusambo. In 1996, I joined my brother’s company called Nuclear Sounds, our co-business was supplying music system to any client who needed music system such as speakers, amplifiers, microphones, keyboards, mixers, guitars including their accessories which you will need in the music industry.” He said.

“The manager was Henry Kantule Lusambo.
In 2009 he passed on and as a family I was appointed as the administrator of his estate to operate as a director.”

He explained that a year after his brother’s death, he changed the name of the company at PACRA from Nuclear Sound system to Nuclear Sound System General dealers.

“We continued with the co-business of nuclear sounds and we increased the capacity when it was not fashionable for people in Zambia to deal with music system, we were pioneeers of this business in our country we had clients beyond Lusaka and DRC. They We had enough income we were doing cross border business,” he said.

Lusambo told the Court that the said company obtained contracts from politicians to print and supply campaign material for MMD.

“We supplied to the late Peter Magande, Kapembwa Simbao, Bradford Machila, Felix Mutati, and the list is endless. In our supplying, we received a lot of money more than K500 million unrebased,” he said.

The former Lusaka province minister said, after he completed his grade 12 at Solwezi Technical College, he enrolled at Mulungushi University and studied sales and marketing for two years.

Lusambo said he joined politics at a younger age, as he was inspired by family members who were politicians.

“My father Mr Lusambo was a politician, am from a family of politicians among them Dawson Lifungwa, and Levy Patrick Mwanawasa who was my uncle,” he claimed.

Lusambo talked of his time on MMD and how he formed the MMD Die Hard Nationals Youth Wing in 2006.

“We were not on a salary but we were given logistical allowances. Political activities are voluntary in nature but, as political parties we fund those activities. The youth wing was funded to execute our duties effectively,” said.

“We worked with President Mwanawasa unfortunately he passed on in 2008. We campaigned with the late Tetamashimba for the late Ruphia Banda . After he won elections we changed the name from youth wing to Die Hard.”

Lusambo explained that he was elevated from the position of national youth wing coordinator, to MMD national youth secretary.

“Rupiah Banda governed the country for three years and resigned and we started looking for his replacement. As youths we decided to call Dr Nevers Mumba to come and participate in our intra-party politics,” he said.

“I worked with Raphael Nakacinda, Thomas Mainisa, I assumed the position for campaign manager for Dr Nevers Mumba. I was in charge for planning his political activities, and distributing the resources to our campaign teams across the country.”

Lusambo said Dr Mumba put him on a salary and he would get K60, 000 to K70, 000 and he bought him a personal vehicle a Toyota Prado to ease his movements.

“I worked with him from 2012 to 2017. He (Dr Mumba) decided to also pay for my housing allowance, we had our intra-party elections and he was voted as president of MMD defeating some candidates such as Felix Mutati and others,” He said.

“In April 2015 I was approached by PF to join their political party and I declined to join them because I was with Dr Nevers Mumba and we were just about to vote in the by election. I started working in Kabushi constituency and sank 45 boreholes. In 2016 the PF came back and asked me if I could represent them in Kabushi constituency.”

Lusambo said he emerged victorious in the election as PF candidate with a landslide of 22,600 votes as member of parliament for Kabushi Comstituency, and subsequently sworn in on August 16, 2016.

“After being sworn in as MP by Chief Justice Speaker Matibini, we were put on a monthly salary, sitting allowance, committee allowance, fuel allowance, among others. I can’t recall the dates but they are documented allowances,” he said.

“The fuel allowances we were given per kilometer as parliamentarians with constituencies outside Lusaka. Sitting allowance was given everyday but paid after two weeks. Committee allowance, as and when you are sitting as a committee but the rates were higher than the sitting allowance.”

He explained that as a member of parliament we undertook parliamentary tours within and outside Zambia, and parliament had different committees, and each committee would come up with their calendar which would be approved by the clerk of the National Assembly through the speaker of the National Assembly.

“We were given subsistence allowances at the rate of the country at which you are visiting. In September 2016 President Edgar Lungu appointed me as a minister for Copperbelt province and I was sworn in together with other ministers and we went to report in our stations,” Lusambo said.

“As a minister, I was a government number one representative. In short, I was a mini president for Copperbelt province. Under me I had office of the Vice President, Zambia Airforce, Zambia Army and other government entities.”

He said his job was to conduct government activities in the province, to promote government policies to the private sector, to attract foreign and local investors to invest in the province and ensure that there was service delivery to the residents of the Copperbelt Province.

He said he got more money as a minister compared to what he got as a member of parliament.

“The difference of the emoluments between minister and MP was huge. I earned alot as minister. As a minister I was entitled to an allowance every time I move out of the station,” He said.

“In 2016 I was entitled to gratuity, in 2018 to 2019 we had a mid term gratuity and at the end of parliament I had full gratuity at a total of K2.5 million. As a minister under the current government constitution we don’t get gratuity we get salaries and allowances.”

He said in 2018 Lungu transferred him to Lusaka as provincial minister and in 2021 he was re-elected as Kabushi MP.

Trial continues on Monday September 9.

Mwaka Ndawa
Kalemba