AN accountant at the Ministry of Finance has testified that NDC president Chishimba Kambwili was paid a total of K565,463.98 between January, 2014 and July, 2016, as net salary from the government payroll.

This is a matter in which Kambwili, his son Mwamba, Mwamona Engineering and Technical Services, Lukwesa Musonda Brano and Mulenga Makasa Kapilima are charged with one count of making a document without authority; one count of uttering a false document; two counts of obtaining pecuniary advantage by false pretenses and 35 counts of being in possession of property suspected to be proceeds of crime.

It is alleged in one of the counts that Mwamona Engineering and Kambwili, on dates unknown, but between August 1, 2014, and September 30, 2016, in Lusaka, whilst acting together by means of false pretence, dishonestly obtained US$105,220.07 from China Henan International Corporation Group Limited, purporting that Mwamoma, a company which was subcontracted, was executing the works on Luwingu-Mansa road when in fact not.

Kambwili and Mwamona are also alleged to have presented a false ZRA Tax Clearance Certificate to Zesco purporting that it was genuinely issued, resulting in the award of a contract of K8 million for the construction of houses and toilets under the Lunzua Hydro Power project, thereby, obtaining pecuniary advantage of a contract sum of K1,652,482.81.

When the matter came up before Principal Resident Magistrate Mwaka Mikalile, Chingambi Kamfuti, 45, testified that in December, 2017, being the end user of political and statutory payroll, he was told to provide information about Kambwili’s salaries by ACC officers, which he did.

“I was told there was a warrant to provide information about Honourable Kambwili relating to the salaries. I took them to my office and they asked for salaries, which were paid to Kambwili from the period January, 2014, to July, 2016. Being an end-user of the payroll called Political and Statutory, which hosts Cabinet ministers, including the President and judges. I printed out the payslips when Kambwili was on that payslip,” he narrated.

“Officers requested for a summary of the information of which I did on an Excel Sheet and aggregated year-by-year. In 2014, the total net pay was K215,250.28; in 2015, it was K208,250.58 and in 2016, K141,962.82; total between 2014 and 2016 was K565,463.98.”

But during cross-examination, Kamfuti disclosed that the said funds were legally earned and that there was nothing illegal about them, adding that he did not hear of any complaints from ZRA over the said money.

However, Bibian Munachonga, a senior tax inspector at ZRA, testified that Mwamona Engineering was not tax compliant as they were supposed to pay K3 million in taxes, which they did not.

But during cross-examination, she noted that from 2013 to 2018, Mwamona Engineering was issued with Tax Clearance Certificates, which was a sign that the company was compliant.

Munachonga added that Lukwesa Musonda Brano was acquitted of all allegations by ZRA management.

Trial continues.