By CLEVER ZULU and JULIUS PHIRI –
AN Immigration officer in Solwezi has been arrested by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) for corrupt practices involving more than K13,000.
Ben Sokoni, 39, of House number A26, Ndeke Township based at Zambezi Immigration Office has been charged with one count of Abuse of Authority of Office.
Between January and October 2014, Sokoni, being an Immigration Assistant is believed to have corruptly received commission and consultation fees amounting to K13,250 for processing new temporal employment permits, and extension of temporal permits for employees of Stefanuti Stocks Limited.
This is according to statement released in Lusaka yesterday by ACC public relations manager Timothy Moono.
Sokoni is still remanded in custody and will appear in the Zambezi subordinate court on Monday November 10, 2014 for mention.
Meanwhile, Chief Madzimawe of the Ngoni speaking people of Eastern Province has accused some Food Reserve Agency (FRA) agents in the just-ended crop marketing season of corruption.
Chief Madzimawe said at his palace in Chipata yesterday that some farmers without money to corrupt the agents were left stranded with their maize during the marketing season.
The chief said there was need to remove the bad tendencies in the crop marketing season in order for farmers to sell their farm produce freely.
“Corrupt tendencies were done during the just-ended crop marketing season by the FRA agents who were involved in the buying of maize from farmers. What really happened is that these people were only regarding those with money thereby living those without money stranded with their produce,” he said.
Chief Madzimawe explained that it was saddening that most of the disadvantaged farmers failed to sell their produce to the agency due to the corruption by the FRA agents.
He also appealed to the FRA to quickly pay the farmers to enable them access farming inputs for the 2014/15 farming season.
The traditional leader said it was sad that most of the farmers in his chiefdom had not yet been paid their monies after selling their inputs to FRA.
“A number of people in my chiefdom had not yet been paid their monies for the maize sold to FRA and I know that these people who have not been paid cannot access farming inputs so they should be paid by now,” he said.