ZRA EMPLOYEE DENIES GIFTING A VEHICLE TO ARCHBISHOP ALICK BANDA
I have never seen or touched the vehicle that ZRA claimed I bought from the institution and sold to Archbishop Alick Banda, says Mulopa Kaunda, a man who has suffered over four years of public ridicule for supposedly dragging a high-ranking Catholic priest into a dirty deal.
In this exclusive interview, Kaunda explains how fraudulent receipts and other documents were generated in his name by his named supervisor, in a deal that was meant to facilitate the illegal disposal of government vehicles from the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA).
Since 2022, the law enforcement agencies in Zambia have been investigating a case of abuse of office among ZRA employees and the illegal possession of proceeds of crime involving private beneficiaries, among them the incumbent Catholic Archbishop of Lusaka, Alick Banda.
During the reign of late former President Edgar Lungu, several government institutions were ordered to release vehicles for use in the election campaigns for the ruling party, while some were gifted to PF sympathisers.
Under the ZRA, at least 22 motor vehicles were ‘disposed of’ under questionable circumstances, and records show that some of the vehicles were passed on to employees and private individuals, as well as entities aligned to the ruling party at the time.
Former ZRA Commissioner General Kingsley Chanda and his Director of Administration Callistus Kaoma were convicted and sentenced to six years and nine years respectively for not following procedure in disposing of government vehicles.
According to ZRA and RTSA records seen by News Diggers, one of the vehicles, a Toyota Hilux registration number ALF 7734, was purportedly sold to a ZRA employee named Mulopa Kaunda, who is said to have changed the car documents into his name on 21st April 2021 and then gifted it to the Catholic priest Alick Banda, who also changed the vehicle ownership documents into his personal name the very next day on April 22, 2021.
Records also show that another vehicle which came from ZRA was gifted to Heart of Mercy.
“I don’t know Alick Banda, I never sold or gave him a vehicle”
In a surprising turn of events, Kaunda reveals that he never participated in any tender or auction to buy the said vehicle from ZRA, and that he has never met or communicated with the high-ranking Catholic priest in his life.
He now narrates the agony, frustration and reputational damage he suffered since the public scandalisation started, leading to his hospitalisation, after Emmanuel Mwamba released fraudulent documents linking him to the scandal.
Sitting in his office in Ndola on 17th December 2020, Kaunda, a ZRA employee, received a surprise internal email from the accounts department with an attachment of a receipt. The receipt was an acknowledgment for a payment received from him towards a vehicle he had apparently bought from the institution through an auction sale.
In shock, he responded, saying he had not bought any vehicle from ZRA and he certainly did not make any payment to the institution for that purpose. Little did he know that the purchase of the said vehicle was going to be forced on him officially, as a new receipt was going to be issued for the same transaction.
News Diggers
Believe this, and you will believe anything. There are too many holes in the ” fiction” being presented by Mr Mulopa Kaunda.
The Policy of ZRA usually involves the sell of auctioned off ZRA Assets to employees. In cases where these assets were to be donated to some Charities, employees might have been approached to assist, purely for administrative purposes. It will be discovered that this was so for some of the other 22 vehicles which were sold to Hospitals, Councils etc..purely for administrative conveniences and to adhere to policies on the disposal of company assets.
It will be interesting to know the details of the Vehicle sold to Divine Mercy and why for this vehicle there is not much being talked about. In whose name was this vehicle purchased? What are the details on the receipt and gate pass?
What of the other 20 Vehicles? How did they end up with third parties?
Having worked in the Mines, ZCCM LTD , a number of times Some Assets including Vehicles, Machines such as Obsolete Crushers , Loaders,Dump Trucks were auctioned off to employees.
Many times the employees didn’t have money to buy these assets. They therefore approached third parties who would provide Money for the Disposed off Assets, and they would then eventually become the Absolute owner of the Assets. At times Senior Management were excluded from participating in such Auctions. Junior employees were therefore approached by some senior managers who were interested in buying some of these assets, to be used as conduits for such purchases.
Ofcourse it wasn’t a big deal..There was no Archbishop Dr Alick Banda then to be crucified by a government.
Am therefore not at all surprised at the issues surrounding the Toyota Hilux gifted to Archbishop Dr Alick Banda.
And people at ZRA know the truth over what happens/happened during the auctions… but because of politics of vengeance against anything and everything done under the previous government , no one is coming up to tell the truth.
My appeal is to the Catholics at ZRA.
This case is an attack on what UPND term the ” Lucifer of Zambia” . It’s about the persecution of a Man whose only offence is coming to the defense of the people. To Scandalize the Archbishop so that he is removed as Archbishop of Lusaka Diocese…It’s an attack on the Church ‘s moral Authority, and the pattern is there for all to see.
Nothing stops you from telling the truth on what really happened concerning Archbishop Dr Alick Banda ‘s auctioned ZRA vehicle. Stand up for Truth and let the world know.
What Mr Mulopa Kaunda is Saying doesn’t look to be the truth.
It has too many holes and most likely concocted in a pressure cooker manned by agents of the “Mingalatoon” .