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Zambian police are investigating leaks of classified government information after a newspaper reported the southern African state had agreed to borrow $193 million from a Chinese weapons manufacturer.
The privately owned Post newspaper on May 9 reported that President Edgar Lungu’s cabinet agreed to the loan from Chinese state-owned Poly Technologies Inc., citing a letter from Secretary to the Cabinet Roland Msiska to Fredson Yamba, the treasury secretary.
The funds would pay for security equipment for police, the immigration department, prisons and the Drug Enforcement Commission, the Post said.
“The investigations we’ve commenced are over leakages of classified documents,” Charity Munganga Chanda, a police spokeswoman, said by mobile phone Monday. She wouldn’t give further details.
Poly Technologies, a unit of Beijing-based China Poly Group Corp., supplies national defense and security systems, according to its website. It provides equipment to armies, navies, air forces and police.
Zambia’s debt to China has been growing, with Africa’s second-biggest copper producer arranging $851 million in loans from state-owned Chinese banks in 2013, according to the finance ministry’s annual report for that year. The 2014 report is yet to be published.
Information Minister Chishimba Kambwili told the police Sunday to investigate the leak, according to comments broadcast on state-owned ZNBC TV. Government will “deal with” the person who leaked the document, the Lusaka-based Zambia Daily Mail reported Monday, citing Lungu.
Bloomberg
The question I want to ask is that is it true government borrowed secretly the said amount for security use? And if they did, what security are trying to enhance? To investigate leaked information. Why can’t we borrow to eleviate poverty in most rural areas like shangombo, shiwangandu, Lufwanyama, etc where people goes to bed without a meal sometimes. When people leak information like that its because they are concerned about that kind of borrowing and governance. There is no need to investigate, there is only need to reverse wrong priorities to right priorities. Zambia deserves better and we need serious advisors to the President who won’t allow him to borrow in secret. He needs serious economical advisors. I surely don’t understand why we borrow that much in our country. Our emerald industry and other natural resources if well managed are able to generate that amount of money in within 2 years. But the problem is our government neglects the industry that can feed them and Ministers compromise getting hand outs from these mines. It hates me to see government getting $9million plus from mineral royalty from one company but can’t realise that empowering many more industries will constitite more revenue collection. Government choses wrong people to represent them on boards were they are just interested in alloawances and not changing anything. Zambia wake up and think and think and act.