Kalu snubs ACC

FOOTBALL Association of Zambia (FAZ) president Kalusha Bwalya yesterday failed to appear before the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for questioning over alleged corrupt practices in the soccer mother body as he was reportedly on Christmas holiday in South Africa.

ACC confirmed in a statement that they had summoned Kalusha for ‘‘routine’’ questioning.
“I wish to confirm that the Anti-Corruption Commission has summoned FAZ president Kalusha Bwalya for routine questioning. This is in furtherance to the investigations the Commission is carrying out regarding the Football Association of Zambia,” the statement read.
However, source at Football House said FAZ received the letter of summons on Monday but wrote to the ACC to apologise that Kalusha could not make it yesterday as he was out of the country.
The source said ACC had on a number of times called Kalusha but he allegedly ignored the calls.
“The FAZ president and three others were scheduled to appear today (yesterday) at ACC for questioning but he is out of the country. The summoning letter was presented to FAZ on Monday but since the president is out of the country, they (FAZ) wrote a letter of apology that he would not make it.
“But this is not the first time ACC has requested for his appearance. The FAZ president even ignores phone calls,” the source said.
The source revealed that FAZ committee member Pivot Simwanza was among the three officials summoned to appear for questioning.
Among the alleged corrupt cases Kalusha is implicated in include receiving US$80, 000 from ex-FIFA vice-president Mohammed Bin Hammam to influence the Qatar 2022 World Cup bid.
And last month, former FAZ treasurer Kelvin Mutafu revealed that some officials at FAZ had reproduced Nike replica jerseys for the Zambia Nationa Team in China and the proceeds from the sales went into their personal pockets.
“We lost the Nike deal because of allowing one individual to reproduce the kit in China of which sales were being shared among individuals. As a result, we have no kit supplier. Nike was the best deal.