TWO civil servants and a lawyer have been warned and cautioned together with two Tanzanians who claim to be the owners of the 51 houses in Lusaka’s Chalala. The two civil servants are Charles Loyana, a senior accountant in the Ministry of Finance, and his wife, Susan Sinkala, while the lawyer is Chali Chitala, who is based on the Copperbelt .

Minister of Home Affairs Stephen Kampyongo told Parliament in a ministerial statement yesterday that the Tanzanians started claiming ownership of the houses last month after the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) completed the forfeiture process. Mr Kampyongo said the Immigration Department and the Drug Enforcement Commission are also working with ACC to establish how financial transactions were conducted between the suspects in Zambia and the Tanzanians.

He was responding to a question from Monze Central Member of Parliament (MP) Jack Mwiimbu (UPND). Mr Mwiimbu wanted to know if Mr Kampyongo was aware of a Tanzanian claiming to have given one of the suspects money to buy land where the houses have been built. “My statement is not from any media house but from a team of investigative officers.

I can confirm that these two Tanzanians came on the scene in September and they have been interviewed. “These are like afterthought desperate actions which people take when they are getting caught up. They have been warned and cautioned,” he said. Mr Kampyongo also said information submitted by UPND president Hakainde Hichilema did not contain any substance to help the ACC with investigations.

And Speaker of the National Assembly Patrick Matibini disallowed a point of order by Chitambo MP Remember Mutale (PF), who wanted to know what will be done to some opposition political party leaders who claim that the 51 houses belong to the first family. Mr Mutale said one of the suspects in the matter, Mr Loyana, is a nephew of a former Minister of Finance, who was in the House.

“Mr Charles Loyana is a nephew of a former Minister of Finance, who is in here. Is he in order to remain quiet without divulging to the nation that Mr Loyana is indeed the owner of the 51 houses?” he said. And Mr Kampyongo said investigations into the ownership of the houses have been completed. He said the investigations have revealed that Mr Loyana bought 22 plots from a real estate agent who was selling the land on behalf of a client in whose name the property was at the time.

“Although Mr Loyana paid for the plots, they are currently registered in Mr Chitala’s name,” he said. Mr Kampyongo said a docket has been opened and sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions for further guidance on the matter. He also said Government collects K88,000 in rentals per month from tenants of the houses, which are valued at K37 million. Mr Kampyongo was responding to Mufulira MP Evans Chibanda (PF), who wanted to know the value of the properties. The minister also said the creation of the Financial Intelligence Centre and the revision of the Financial Management Act are a demonstration of Government’s resolve to fight corruption.

Mr Kampyongo was answering a question from Katombora MP Derick Livune (UPND), who wanted to know if Government has implemented any measures to detect corrupt activities early because the issue of the 51 houses took long to be investigated. Recently, President Edgar Lungu directed all investigative wings to ensure that the ownership of the houses was thoroughly investigated to clear speculations on the matter.