LAZZO’s ultimate task was simple as it entailed merely opening the gate and let the truck laden with building materials out of the plant.
His boss was a flamboyant and ambitious Fleet Manager who was inspired by mansions springing up in Lusaka’s Chalala area east of the city.
Waka Fontini was hellbent on not being left out of the race and decided this time to build a mansion in his bordertown home of
Nakonde.
Lazzo had just closed the gate to the factory when the landline by the gate rang.
It was Fontini instructing him to let the truck that was now revving in the yard to go scotfree.
The security guard needed not to dilly-dally with the truckas it was cleared by him!
He had a remote premonition that some procedure was waived.
All trucks that left the premises were to have all their vehicle registration  numbers recorded in a log book by the gate.
But this time round, he had to waive this routine and give way to the truck without question.
The truck was replete with various building materials manufactured by the company which were designed to somewhat go unrecorded.
These were meant to supplement the concrete blocks on site in Nakonde where Fontini’s  dream house was taking shape.
Unlike his contemporaries in the city, he foresaw a time he would settle in his original habitat hence the need to  strike while the
iron was hot!
Soon the truck was on its way northwards and finally arrived on the fringes of the border.
A week passed and there was an audit query which indicated that a huge consignment of materials had gone missing during a specific period.
Management held a crisis meeting at which it was decided to summon the Fleet Manager over the missing cargo.
It was not long before fraud experts from the law enforcement agencies began to mill around the plant carrying on ground inspections.
Meanwhile, Fontini had dispatched a cab and hired a special driver to deliver a fake number plate which would be affixed to the truck that had delivered building materials.
At this time, the probe into the fiasco had reached an advanced state as Fontini and Lazzo were nabbed to ‘help with investigations’.
After a thorough grilling by the lawmen,  Lazzo disclosed that in fact, he had been instructed not to record any details of the truck
that contained missing materials.
While Lazzo was also considered to be an accomplice to the crime he and Fontini were let loose on police bond pending the next step of the issue.
Meanwhile, Fontini was asked by senior executives to verify the identity of the missing truck and compare its number with the rest
that were on the company’s inventory.
The vehicle was still parked in the bordertown when a contingent of investigators landed in the town to have a closer grasp of the truck.
They discovered that the truck had a completely different registration number and other physical details tampered with.
A view then prevailed that it could not have been the company vehicle that had disappeared with company materials.
Meanwhile,  the bordertown mansion was taking shape well past the window-plate level and was on its way to roofing.
It was not the first time that Fontini had embarked on such an ambitious programme.
Wayback in the past, the organization he worked for had asked him to construct some houses in the north of the country.
Instead of sticking to the specific number of buildings detailed to him, Fontini decided to add three houses which he intended to place on rent!
But at some point, real estate statistics unfolding at the time did not tally with the Bill of Quantities of the project in question.
Similarly, a team of investigators hurried to the site and discovered the excess number of buildings that were serviced by the construction account.
Luckily for Fontini, the executive at the helm of the company was his old pal dating back to the schooldays.
Somehow,  he escaped  jail and was merely sacked at board level and at his height,  deserved a few Kwacha notes in his bank account.
This time round however, Fontini was evidently in a fix and it was everyone’s view that it would take a maverick to steer clear of its trappings!
But he told all concerned that as Fleet Manager, he was always busy in the office and relied on surbodinate staff to trace the whereabouts of all trucks under his management.
Consquently, Lazzo was dismissed  as there was a strong link to his laxity and the disappearance of the truck for which he was held
responsible.
Meanwhile, the truck was part of the exhibits and was kept as such at the bordertown’s law enforcement yard.
Sacked for the second time, he retreated to his newly acquired bungalow overlooking the hills.
Here, he was trying to rebuild his life similar to the city’s lifestyle but he discovered that much of what he wanted to do always
needed ‘his mates in the city’.
He was missing the watering hole where he could quickly manoeuvre to execute a project.
Talking to them on phone was not enough but he had to personally present his issues and get going!
He then discovered that he had developed a knack for making trips to Lusaka to consult lawyers and other business associates.
In the mean time,   Lazzo was not so lucky as he was given a few months behind bars for complicity.
Fontini would however visit him  and assured his former erstwhile workmate that soon, he would be released.
The visits Fontini to Lusaka’s ‘Mudzabwera’  proved an inspiration to Lazzo as while there, he was never short of cigarettes and other goods that other inmates lacked.
Besides, Fontini continued to support Lazzo’s family by way of buying them life-sustaining needs such as food and sometimes clothing!
Deep down his heart, Fontini knew that he had driven Lazzo into the deep waters of turmoil by asking him to overlook what was required of him at the gate!