Sun 21 Aug. 2011, 12:20 CAT 

http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=22703

Given Lubinda

GIVEN Lubinda yesterday provided more details on the corruption and money laundering of UPG, the company engaged by the ECZ to print ballot papers for next month’s general elections.

And ADD president Charles Milupi has warned that the ACC is setting ground for chaos in the country because of its behaviour over UPG’s corruption.

Addressing the press in Lusaka, Lubinda, the PF Kabwata parliamentary candidate, said he was releasing just a little more information to demonstrate to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) that he was sitting on a mountain of information although they were trying to mislead the public that he and The Post had failed to provide information on UPG’s corruption. Lubinda then proceeded to show how UPG’s corruption and money laundering had been operationalised.

“On Sunday August 14, 2011, I addressed you my colleagues from the press on the concerns I had about the corruption, bribery and money laundering activities of Universal Print Group,” Lubinda said. “My concerns are not a matter of cheap political point scoring but are borne out of deep-seated concerns about our democracy and the peace and stability of our nation.

One of the fundamental ways in which the peace and stability of our country and its democracy can be sustained and protected is to ensure that we have a credible, free and fair election system. This system should not be tainted by suspicions of corruption of any kind. This is in order that such a system should perform its function of being the means by which our people are able to express their wishes about who should govern them.”

Lubinda said since the electoral process was such an important part of Zambia’s democratic system, no criminality of any kind should be permitted to play any part in its function. He said that was why he had objected to the participation of UPG in Zambia’s electoral system.

“UPG are criminals who should be prosecuted but today, they are being defended by the government and more disappointingly by the Anti Corruption Commission. The Anti Corruption Commission is supposed to be protecting our country from the vices of corruption, bribery and the resultant money laundering. But in our case, the ACC has decided to become the defender of criminals,” Lubinda said.

“On Sunday, I challenged the ACC to deny that they had not interviewed anyone on the payment of bribes to officers of the Electoral Commission of Zambia by UPG. I also challenged the ACC to deny that they did not have information that Mr Vik Vaid, the UPG projects manager, was a conduit of bribes to officers at ECZ. I also challenged the ACC director general Lt Col Godfrey Kayukwa to deny that they did not know Stanbic Bank Zambia Limited account number 0140034477502 to be one of the accounts used to pay bribes to officers of the ECZ.”

Lubinda said his challenge came after Lt Col Kayukwa issued a press statement in which he falsely told the nation that there was no investigation, which touched upon the ECZ or any of its suppliers.

“This statement was calculated to deceive the public by telling them that UPG was not a target of any investigations at ACC. Lt Col Kayukwa tried to trivialise this serious matter by warning me not to drag the ACC into politics. In addition, UPG on their part issued a statement in which they claimed innocence concerning this matter,” Lubinda said.

“It is disappointing that Lt Col Kayukwa, for reasons best known to himself, has decided to tell blatant lies on such an important issue. When he invited me to the ACC, I was shocked that he did not seem to have any problem in changing his position and admitting that there was an investigation on UPG and he wanted more information from me. This is a man who had told the nation that there was no investigation on UPG. The question is: why?”

Lubinda said Lt Col Kayukwa’s lies must be motivated by the knowledge that telling the truth would greatly disadvantage the government and the ECZ who have retained a corrupt printer to participate in preparations for next month’s elections.

“When I provided the account number, I did so in the hope that it would help Lt Col Kayukwa to see that telling lies was not helpful. By these lies, Lt Col Kayukwa is endangering the peace and stability of our country,” Lubinda said. “You may recall that last week when I addressed you, I intimated that if ACC and particularly Lt Col Kayukwa does not inform Zambians on the scandal involving UPG, I would be releasing more details to prove my case. I said then that the account number I released was just a tip of the iceberg.

“For those who may doubt what I am talking about, let me assure you that I am sitting on a mountain of information concerning this very serious matter. Today, therefore, I want to provide some little more detail on how the corruption and money laundering of UPG has been operationalised.

“The UPG appears to request some targeted officers of the ECZ to set up dummy companies. These dummy companies, which appear not to be connected to ECZ or any of its officers, are then requested to give fictitious invoices to companies created and controlled by UPG in tax havens. In one of the cases that illustrate this, a senior officer of the ECZ together with other colleagues set up a micro-finance company here in Zambia called Venturefin. This has been confirmed by ex-Venturefin employees. Venturefin later issued a dubious invoice for a colossal amount of US $90,000 to a UPG-connected company called Aeron Limited of Mauritius for fictitious services. Aeron then paid Venturefin. This money was received in Stanbic Bank account number 0140034477502 and enjoyed by an official of ECZ.

“Lt Col Kayukwa knows these facts. Whistle-blowers have already given the ACC this information and they have confirmed this. And some of those whistle-blowers have been interviewed by the ACC and have repeated the same facts to the Commission and the ACC should have those statements.”

Lubinda said UPG had by their actions not only engaged in corruption through bribery but also money laundering.

“This is the kind of company that ECZ is asking us to accept as a partner in running our elections. This is wrong. The cover up that the ACC is involved in by denying knowledge of investigations they have carried out leaves me as an interested person very worried,” Lubinda said. “When I first raised this matter, it was with hope that the ACC would assist the ECZ to revisit the idea of having UPG to print our ballot papers. Numerous citizens and some civil society organisations supported that view. Nonetheless, this was not to happen. And as we all know, UPG have commenced the production of ballot papers.

“However, this does not make this matter redundant. The malpractices of UPG with some individuals at ECZ shall be as relevant after the elections as they are now and as they were before they started printing ballot papers. As such, even after elections, these matters will still be of great national importance. Whether we win or lose is beside the point. These matters will be followed.”

Lubinda said the same whistle blowers who told him about UPG corruption also went and told Kayukwa about the matter.

“Whilst whistle-blowers have already given the ACC this information, I also want to say to you that those whistle-blowers have actually confirmed with me. The people who went to Colonel Kayukwa and gave him the information came back and said, ‘Zayelo, we have told him.’ And some of these whistle-blowers, my brothers and sisters, have been interviewed by the ACC and they have repeated the same facts to the Commission; and the ACC have these statements. Why hide and seek? Colonel Kayukwa, why?” Lubinda asked.

Asked why the PF was participating in an election whose ballot papers were printed by a company the party leadership had branded as corrupt, Lubinda said he was motivated by the fact that many voters wanted change in order to fight corruption seriously.

Lubinda said even though his party’s slogan is never to say anything, he was bound to disclose the information.

“I know that in my party we say, ‘Don’t kubeba’ (Don’t tell them) but today we shall tell them because this is a serious matter of public interest,” Lubinda said as PF cadres shouted: “Bebeni, bebeni (Tell them, tell them!)”

Lubinda further challenged journalists from the public media to ask Lt Col Kayukwa about his revelations on UPG’s corruption and bribery.

“My colleagues in the public media, I know that you have been writing that Lubinda this, Lubinda that. So, please, from what I have revealed today, you can also go and ask Colonel Kayukwa what he knows and what he is going to do about it because he has this information,” said Lubinda.

And commenting on the UPG saga, Milupi, who is a presidential candidate in this year’s election said the ACC’s job was to arrest criminals and not to defend them.

“The Anti Corruption Commission, when corruption is reported, their job is to quickly investigate and assure people that action has been taken. This attempted cover up to make people believe that they are not aware of this corruption is absolutely wrong and they are setting the seat for creating chaos in this country,” Milupi said.

He said what had happened so far did not instill confidence in stakeholders.

Milupi urged the Electoral Commission of Zambia and the MMD government to take the UPG matter seriously and suspend the printing of ballot papers.

“The people in government must remember that Hosni Mubarak a few months earlier he had won by a landslide victory in the election. What is happening to him now? Even before the ink on the ballot papers that had made him win by a landslide had dried up, he is now in a cage. That’s what may happen to Zambia,” said Milupi.

“The whole process leaves much to be desired. What has happened so far is not giving stakeholders and the citizens confidence that we shall have free and fair elections that will deliver the result that will be accepted by all. It is not for President Rupiah Banda to comment on this one; it is a baby of the Electoral Commission. You people at The Post have called them UPG criminals. If they were that clean they would have dragged you to court; but this has not happened.”