Investigators quiz former Zambian communications minister
GOVERNMENT
By BiztechAfrica – Feb. 19, 2013, 9:57 a.m.
By Edith Mwale, Lusaka, Zambia
Zambia’s former minister of Communications and Transport, Dora Siliya, was yesterday summoned to appear before the Zambian government Joint Investigations team.
In a statement, Siliya confirmed that she appeared before the investigator but that she exercised her constitutional right to remain silent on the issue relating to the engagement of RP Capital Partners of the Cayman Islands relative to the sale of Zamtel.
Siliya said she was advised that the Joint Team of Investigators would contact her in due course.She stated that the matters relating to the engagement of RP Capital Partners on the sale of Zamtel are all in the public domain and were subject of the proceedings of the Tribunal constituted by the Chief Justice of the Republic of Zambia whose findings are contained in a report that was submitted by the Tribunal to the Zambian president Michael Sata.
According to Siliya, the tribunal “cleared her of any wrong doing and duly exonerated her of allegations of abuse of office even after the matter was subjected to the High Court and the Supreme Court of Zambia.
“When the Patriotic Front took over government, a Commission of Inquiry was constituted to investigate the same issue. But the findings of the Commission of Inquiry are yet to be made public,” Siliya said.
Siliya further said the engagement of RP Capital Advisors and the final transaction for the sale of Zamtel have been subjected to various approval authorities inter alia; Cabinet, The Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) and the Ministry of Justice.
Siliya said the matter has been settled in the past but that it appears the matter has a tendency to be ‘rekindled over and over again’.
She expressed hope that State Agents would consider the abundant material at its disposal in a professional manner so that a full inquiry is made, and not just to embark on a ‘witch hunt designed to persecute what are deemed as political opponents’.
