My name was used to fraudulenty give Bishop Alick Banda the Hilux, cries ZRA employee
A ZAMBIA Revenue Authority (ZRA) employee whose name has for years been synonymous with the controversial Toyota Hilux allegedly gifted to Archbishop Alick Banda has cried foul, saying he was framed and used as a pawn in the illegal disposal of government vehicles.
Mulopa Kaunda, the man on paper recorded as the buyer and the ‘Good Samaritan’ who donated the vehicle, said he has never bought, driven or even laid eyes on the automobile that has landed him in endless interrogations and public ridicule.
According to an exclusive story published by the News Diggers newspaper, Kaunda said what started as a strange email in December 2020 quietly turned into a nightmare that dragged his name, family and career into a scandal involving senior ZRA officials and politically connected beneficiaries.
The paper reports that according to records, the Toyota Hilux was allegedly sold to Kaunda before being transferred to Archbishop Banda within 24 hours, a transaction Kaunda said exists only on paper.
“I never bought that vehicle. I never participated in any auction and I don’t know Archbishop Banda,” Kaunda was quoted as saying.
The paper reported that the ZRA employee narrated how he was shocked to receive an internal receipt showing he had paid for a vehicle, prompting him to query the transaction, only to be told it was an error.
However, the matter refused to die, later resurfacing with fresh receipts and documents bearing his name, including ownership records.
Kaunda said the situation worsened after he was asked by his then supervisor to submit his NRC, a request he now believes was used to formalize the fraudulent paperwork.
What followed was a trail of summons by investigative wings, forcing him to travel repeatedly from Ndola to Lusaka to explain himself, while the public narrative painted him as the generous donor to a senior Catholic cleric.
The pressure intensified after documents linking him to the Archbishop were circulated on social media, a development Kaunda revealed pushed him into depression and hospitalisation due to high blood pressure.
“I have been mocked, questioned and treated like a criminal over something I didn’t do,” he said.
The investigations have already claimed high-profile casualties, with former ZRA commissioner general Kingsley Chanda and former director of administration Callistus Kaoma jailed for abuse of office.
The recent summoning of Archbishop Banda over the same vehicle has heightened public interest and anxiety, particularly among the Bishop Banda’s supporters within Catholic church, some of whom see it as political persecution.
But Kaunda said while the nation debates the Archbishop’s interrogation, his own suffering has gone unnoticed.
“For four years, I have lived with this cloud over my head,” he said.
As investigations continue, Kaunda maintains that all he wants is justice and the restoration of his name.
Kalemba, January 7, 2026
If Mr. Kaunda’s version of events relating to the Archbishop’s hilux is true, then it is even more painful that an innocent man should be subjected to such emotional torture by all involved, especially Archbishop Banda.
This gentleman has clearly said he doesnot know the Archbishop and has never seen the vehicle in question. And the Archbishop decides to remain silent when he is given the opportunity to give his side of the story?
The speed with which the change of ownership was excuted also raises suspicion. If Mr. Kaunda paid for the vehicle and hence it was legally his and he gave it to the Archbishop, why would he refuse that he was involved in such a transaction?
This is the problem with sin. You commit a worse sin to cover up an ealier sin. In the bible, King David committed murder (had Uriah killed in battle) to cover up his earlier sin of adultery with Uriah’s wife.
This doesnot look good for the Archbishop.
This is a wake up call for those church leaders and organisations who rush to accept donations even from dubious sources.
Who signed and authorised the change of ownership from kaunda to this thieving veiled politician
Boom,thats where the problem is my leader.
Believe this, then you will believe anything. There are too many holes in his story.
This man has been under so much pressure from state machinery.. This looks like a story brewed in the Mingalatoon’s pot of Deception.
The issue is not about the ZRA vehicle. It’s all about the Archbishop Dr Alick Banda..and his outspoken critics of Hakainde and his government.. This is what this is about.
The only way out for this ‘archbishop’ Hilux Banda to avoid jail is humility. He is clearly complicit in that heinous crime. But unfortunately, the man is so full of foolish pride. The Bible says pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall (Prov. 16:18 NKJV). I wonder if this fake bishop has even seen this Scripture.