By Zambian Business Times
Pilot at centre of KKIA gold scandal Captain Kawanu goes missing
The accused person who is holding vital information needed to reveal the hidden identity of who booked the local flight aircraft King Air B90 that was to handle the cash to gold exchange, Captain Patrick Kawanu has gone missing after investigative agents took him into detention.
Captain Kawanu is reported to have handled the local flight leg on Sunday to what has led to the KKIA gold scandal. His employers, Zambia Skyways have comfirmed that indeed their aircraft was used but pointed to their chief pilot Kawanu as having been the responsible captain. Kawanu’s werebought are unknown and he’s unreachable.
The air charter company has failed to provide details of who booked the aircraft, a strange situation as booking an aircraft has procedures that should have been filed and records kept.
It is still not clear if Skyways were paid in cash as the bank payment details may now be the solution to unmask the local conspirators who were facilitating and masterminding this scandal.
There are growing concerns that a massive coverup is underway after local investigative agents failed to reveal the identity of the arrested individuals even when the bust videos went viral.
Zambia has notable gold and other precious minerals deposits but there has been shocking failure by successive government to profitably harness this wealth endowment for the benefit of the nation.
As a well endowed nation, Zambia with copper production levels of about 800k tons per annum and potential annual revenues of over $6 billion from copper alone, the country still contends with a high cost of funds and a perpetually depreciating currency with export proceeds not being banked locally.
As such, there is a serious loss of confidence among citizens such that some local people in Zambia have even been convinced that it’s impossible for state owned mines to profitably exploit and run the copper, gold or now even sugilite mines, resulting in handing over the wealth to foreign investors.
This is despite the government itself and the state, the overarching authority and sovereign being run by local Zambians. It’s argued that if those in government don’t believe that locals can profitably run the economy, they may as well propose that we get foreign investors or outsource foreign experts to run the government.
SOURCE: Zambian Business Times