Corruption Countdown #7. ACC Seizes 47 Trucks Of Mukula

To commemorate one year since the New Dawn government took office, this month Open Zambia is taking stock on one of the UPND’s major manifesto promises: clamping down on corruption. We’re counting down the top ten biggest busts of the past year to see how what a difference this new administration is making.

 #8: Anti-Corruption Commission Seizes 47 Trucks Full Of Mukula Wood

In October 2021, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) intercepted a staggering 47 trucks loaded with illegally harvested Mukula tree logs and bound for neighbouring Namibia and Zimbabwe.

 24 of the trucks were stopped at Mongu on the 22nd October en route to Walvis Bay in Zamibia. The other 23 were held up at Chirundu at the border with Zimbabwe five days later. Not one of them had the correct documentation requirement to transport the Mukula logs.

The ACC subsequently seized the Mukula logs, together with the trucks, and investigated the smuggling.

 The seizure – one of the largest Mukula busts in ACC history – followed on from the revelation by Community Development Minister Doreen Mwamba in September that a cartel of Patriotic Front officials was working within the ministry to illegally harvest and export Mukula trees belonging to ZAPID farms.

The break-up of the Mukula smuggling cartel, and arrest of multiple former Patriotic Front officials, marked an historic victory for the ACC. The Commission was tasked with reinvigorating the fight against corruption by President Hakainde Hichilema shortly after he was sworn into office in August 2021.