ZAMBIA Police officers yesterday dug up former PF national chairperson Samuel Mukupa’s Mporokoso farm in search of properties believed to have been unlawfully obtained and suspected to have been hidden at the said farm.

In a similar development, some police officers have been conducting a search at former president Edgar Lungu’s economic advisor Hibeene Mwiinga’s farm near Mwembeshi area.

And Mukupa says the officers were searching for firearms, money and vehicles which were suspected to have been buried underground, an action he described as outrageous.

Meanwhile, Mukupa says he wishes the officers had visited his farm in October last year, as they would have helped him with cultivation.

In a statement, Thursday, Mukupa confirmed the search saying about 16 officers went to his farm between 11:00 hours and 13:00 hours with electronic gadgets in search of items believed to have been hidden underground.

“On this special day of national mourning, a team of close to 16 security men of uniformed and non-uniformed men went to my Mporokoso Farm again today between 11 hours and thirteen hours. They went with some electronic gadgetry, they have done very remarkable excavations around my home looking for whatever it is that they look for. We are not at the farm at the moment. They told my wife on phone that they had gone to the farm this time to dig out whatever they think is hidden underground,” he said.

“As usual, they were under instructions. But whatever it is, the results were very frustrating. They are most likely going to my village in Mununga to do the same. How I wish they came in October last year, maybe they would have helped me with cultivation. Seriously, this is absurd.”

And in an interview, Mukupa said the officers were allegedly searching for firearms, money and vehicles which were suspected to have been buried underground.

“They came with some electrical magnetic things, trying to search around. And I think they were asked what they were looking for. And they said they were looking for things which are buried underground. ‘We suspect that there has been a lot of money which has been buried here, ammunition and firearms’. Now that’s outrageous. Can you imagine, firearms and ammunition, and money; foreign and local [as well as] vehicles. One wonders as to whether you can bury vehicles underground. The young man was saying they would be going [around] digging [while] moving around with a machine. Where it gives an indication they start digging, they find utumi somali (nails), and things which they were cutting off when constructing. It’s been a construction site for some time,” said Mukupa.

“I am not worried, they can dig the whole 250 hectares if they want to. But I don’t think they will find anything they are looking for. Roots, cassava, plants, potatoes, and other things, that could be found. Much of it is virgin land.”

But when contacted, Zambia Police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga said he was in a meeting and would respond after getting details of the said search.