By Staff Reporter
Economic Front leader Wynter Kabimba says the response from Zambia Air Force (ZAF) Commander Lieutenant General Colin Barry has given him more impetus to seek accountability from UPND secretary general Batuke Imenda for using a ZAF helicopter to transport him to Northern Province.
Reacting to Kabimba’s 7-day ultimatum to Imenda to provide proof of payment for using the ZAF chopper, Gen Barry said Imenda happened to be one of the passengers in the advance party on the ZAF helicopter that he said had already been paid for by the government.
But Gen Barry also said that despite the government paying for the air assets “l cannot give you a receipt because what happens is when such a movement occurs we are free to use our own resources and then get a payment from the government when the funds are ready.”
But Kabimba said he was pleased that the General confirmed that “the guy was in a ZAF chopper. So it’s a statement of fact.”
“So what I need from ZAF is payment from that chopper. They have to prove that the chopper was paid for since it has been established that the UPND SG was on that chopper. Who paid and where is the proof of payment?” Kabimba asked. “Firstly my demand letter is not to him but his customers, the people who used the plane and the senior most person is the SG.”
Kabimba said the ZAF choppers were not President Hakainde Hichilema’s personal to holder properties, neither did they belong to Gen Barry or Imenda but the people of Zambia.
“The fact he’s not able to produce receipts and can’t tell how much the trip cost means he acted unprofessionally. And he can’t give out a Zambian asset without payment. That’s my argument. That’s not his asset, it’s not the President’s asset,” Kabimba said. “The fact he can’t tell the figures means that transaction was not intended for payment. So we are waiting for a person we sent a letter to to respond. The chopper was not carrying the President, so the reference to the President is irrelevant. We are asking for the chopper used by people in the advance party, which included the UPND SG.”
Kabimba said Gen Barry has said nothing to disprove the allegations, and that he had in fact agreed with him that the chopper was used.
“So our facts are correct,” he said.
Kabimba said from his experience having served as a minister, a ZAF helicopter could not be used without the express authority of the President, arguing that the fact that Imenda used it was tantamount to abuse on his part and for the President it amounted to abuse of office and an act of corruption.
He said corruption should not be restricted to irregular acquisition of money or resources, but also abusing one’s office.
“Imenda was in the advance party remember? Don’t forget there were two events in Kasama, (1) an elitist luncheon where people were being asked to pay K5000 to the exclusion of the poor people who voted for HH in Northern Province. That’s why Sata hated these meet the president functions,” Kabimba said. “The second event was Ukusefya Pang’wena that took place on Saturday. So Imenda flew on a chopper as an advance party on Thursday.”
But asked on the arguments by some that he to used government resources during his time as secretary general of PF under the late president Michael Sata, Kabimba said he never flew alone on any government chopper during his time as secretary general , saying the only time that happened was when he was with the president.
He said when he attended the Likumbi traditional ceremony he flew on a private plane which belonged to his friend.
Kabimba said he never did that, but even if he were to do it, the fact that a wrong was committed and people did not raise objections “does not make Imenda’s wrong right.”
“We are raising this against the values the UPND itself is promulgating. We want to expose their hypocrisy. You can’t sanitise Imenda’s actions by comparing it with another wrong,” said Kabimba.
