Zambia: Mwanawasa's former aide and editor arrested for corruption

Panapress (PANA), 21. May 2003

Lusaka - Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa's formerspecial assistant for press and public relations, Arthur Yoyo, and a former managing editor of the Times of Zambia, Emmanuel
Nyirenda, were on Wednesday arrested for corruption.

The two men were arrested and formally charged by officers of the Anti-Corruption Commission but were later released on police bond pending their appearances before a court on Friday.

Sibalwa Mwaanga, spokesperson for the Anti-Corruption Commission, told PANA that Yoyo and Nyirenda were in the first count jointly charged with abuse of office in relation to the purchase of 25 second hand vehicles from South Africa between 1 August and 3 September 2001.

The purchase of the motor vehicles was in breech of tender procedures and procurement rules of the Zambian government.

In the second count, Nyirenda was charged with the theft of three million kwacha (1,000 US dollars) of public funds between 1 August and 30 September 2001 while he was managing editor of the Times of Zambia.

Nyirenda formally retired from the editorship of the Times last year when angry journalists and other workers of the paper went on a wildcat strike to protest maladministration and gross abuse of company funds.

Yoyo, on the other hand, had continued to be the special assistant for press and public relations to Mwanawasa -- a position which he occupied after the Zambian leader took office
from Frederick Chiluba on last year.

Yoyo was, however, relieved of this position at the beginning of this month when he was placed under investigation after the Post newspaper mounted a sustained campaign over allegations that the president's press aide had stolen 840 million kwacha (178,723 US dollars) of state funds.

Yoyo becomes the third high-ranking official in Mwanawasa's government to be relieved of their duties in recent weeks after they were first implicated in corrupt practices.

The first to go was former deputy minister for information and broadcasting services, John Mwaimba, who was sacked and subsequently arrested for swindling a fertiliser company, Sasol, out of 960 bags of chemical fertilisers valued at 345,966 US dollars.

The second person was the former director-general of the state-owned Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, Eddy Mupeso, who was arrested by the Anti-Corruption
Commision early this month for abuse of office.

Mupeso is accused of influencing the awarding of a contract for the supply of computer equipment and accessories worth 55,405 US dollars of donor funds to BENAU Limited, a private company owned by his daughter.