...as senior UPND Leaders are implicated...
TRUCKS laden with Mukula loads under the guise of Rosewood which is not forbidden to be exported have been intercepted at Katima Mulilo Border Post in Sesheke District of Western Province.
The trucks have been intercepted by 2 watchful officers from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife and 2 Zambia Police officers who were on duty at the time. The officers who refused to be bribed with K90,000 each to allow the truck drivers to have illegal entry into Namibia alarmed the situation to the local authorities. The trucks arrived at the border post stealthily around 01:00 hours in the early hours of Friday 26th August. The trucks are understood to be enroute to Namibia where the precious tree logs are to be shipped to China via the Walvis Bay port in Namibia.
The trucks are moving without rightful papers which are supposed to indicate where the Mukula is coming from and where it is going and the owner of the load. This comes barely 48 hours after Zambia National Service (ZNS) commander Lieutenant General Maliti Solochi and Lusaka province forestry officer Morgan Kaluwe on Wednesday 24th August inspected trucks laden with Mukula logs that were intercepted by officers in Kafue on Wednesday. What we hear is that the Mukula is packed in front of the Containers all the way up to the middle of the Container and Rosewood at last so that in case anyone opened the Container, he or she would only see Rosewood when the bulk is Mukula.
This was done with the collaboration of Forest Department officials, Zambia Revenue Authority Officials and the Zambia Police. What is known for a fact is that UPND officials to export Mukula.
The export of Mukula has been halted after so many illegal activities were being done especially in the previous regime where filthy and powerful politicians were busy exporting the precious logs without proper and valid licenses and permits. We would like urge the Anti-Corruption Commission to quickly look at this matter urgently because the same District Joint Operations Committee is the one which was very corrupt in the previous regime. The ACC should quickly move in and investigate this matter and bring to book everyone involved in this syndicate.
