Zambia Ex-President Banda Arrested Over Sale Of Nigerian Oil-Bloomberg News
Rupiah Banda- Photographer: Joseph Mwenda/AFP via Getty Images
By Matthew Hill & Andres R. Martinez
Banda, 76, was released on 500,000 kwacha ($93,000) bail after surrendering his passport and will appear in court tomorrow, Namukolo Kasumpa, a spokeswoman for the Government Joint Investigative Team, said today. Investigators will resume questioning Banda on April 4.
Zambia's former President Rupiah Banda arrives at the Drug Enforcement Commission in Lusaka where he was summoned for questioning.
“He totally denies any wrongdoing,” Sakwiba Sikota, Banda’s lawyer, said today by mobile phone. “He will be vindicated by the court.”
Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba read out a list of allegations against Banda in Parliament on March 15, including “abuse of authority of office, fraud and misappropriation of public funds,” leading lawmakers in Africa’s largest copper producer to remove his immunity. Banda became president in 2008 after Levy Mwanawasa died, and he was elected later that year.
Banda’s government diverted money from the sale of Nigerian crude oil into a separate bank account instead of the National Treasury, Kabimba said in his statement to parliament.
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