STATEMENT BY APNAC ZAMBIA CHAPTER CHAIRMAN HON MILES B. SAMPA ON THE ARREST OF THE APNAC SG HON MUNIR ZULU
Tuesday March 28th, 2023
About 8am this morning I visited Hon Munir Zulu at the Longacres Police post where he has have been incarcerated since yesterday. Spoke to him at length and he is in usual good spirits. I am keen to figure out today on the charge that the Police have on him but if it’s around the statement on corruption he made last week then it calls for great concern on our freedom of expression on matters of corruption.
Hon Munir Zulu is our elected secretary general (sg) for the Zambia chapter of the Africa Parliamentarians Network Against Corruption (APNAC) and whose role inter alia is to advocate at parliamentary level for a corruption free Africa within our respective Countries.
I was in SA for Pan African Parliament duties last 3 weeks but upon arrival Hon Zulu notified me that he was holding a press conference same day as SG of Apnac he had intel on some grande corruption at Ministerial level. He did not share the details with me but believed he was on firm grounds whatever he was to expose.
He held a press statement on Parliament grounds where all MPs have immunity from prosecution on whatever they say. Hon Zulu disclosed that he had information on two Ministers having received a bribe of $250,000 each for facilitating the Lusaka Ndola road contract recently signed by government. It would be for the two Ministers mentioned namely the Finance Minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane and the Infrastructure Minister Hon Charles Milupi to refute and which they have done and if injured, then sue in the Courts of Law as they have stated they will.
It is not for the Police to arrest Hon Zulu on his allegations . He did not commit any crime against the people of Zambia and the state. It’s a civil and not police matter and more so that Hon Zulu has insisted that he is on tera firmer and has solid evidence on his assertions on the two Ministers.
APNAC therefore demands that our SG Hon Zulu should be released immediately and unconditionally from Police custody. We are intouch with our APNAC global office on our options in such circumstances but give the Police time today to release Hon Munir Zulu and leave matters to the two Ministers aggrieved and the Anti Corruption Commision to deal with the matter if need be.
A whistle blower should be heard and not arrested as enshrined by our own laws.
Miles Bwalya Sampa, MP
Chairman
APNAC Zambia chapter