ACB seizes Chaponda phones to get corruption data

Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) seized mobile phones from  former minister of Minister of Agriculture George Chaponda and investigators are analysing incriminating evidence.

ACB s Senior Public Relations Officer, Egritta Ndala, said investigations of such magnitude require enough time to ensure that the process is conducted thoroughly and in conformity to legal requirements..

Ndala said the bureaue seized the phones and other document   to access evidence, saying the evidence was crucial to the prosecution.

She said  the bureau is “working hard” to ensure the investigations “comes to a logical conclusion” in not too distant future.

President Peter Mutharika fired Chaponda as  Minister of Agriculture a day after the ACB swooped on over K166 million in different currencies during a search and seize at his house in Lilongwe.

The dismissal came while ACB was probing Chaponda, Admarc management and a local company Transglobe, for possible corruption in their roles in a botched multi-billion kwacha Zambia maize deal.

Minister of Justice Samuel Tembenu said so far there’s no charge against Chaponda, saying he remains innoncent.

He said the President dismissed Chaponda from Cabinet to allow for smooth investigations by ACB.