Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07LUSAKA909
2007-08-10 09:08:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Lusaka
Cable title:  

MWANAWASA SUSPENDS DRUG ENFORCEMENT COMMISSIONER

Tags:  KCOR PGOV ZA 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO6926
OO RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHLS #0909/01 2220908
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 100908Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY LUSAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4750
INFO RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP PRIORITY 0024
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 LUSAKA 000909 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/07/2017
TAGS: KCOR PGOV ZA
SUBJECT: MWANAWASA SUSPENDS DRUG ENFORCEMENT COMMISSIONER

REF: LUSAKA 576

LUSAKA 00000909 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: Ambassador Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 LUSAKA 000909

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/07/2017
TAGS: KCOR PGOV ZA
SUBJECT: MWANAWASA SUSPENDS DRUG ENFORCEMENT COMMISSIONER

REF: LUSAKA 576

LUSAKA 00000909 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: Ambassador Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary. On August 8, President Mwanawasa suspended
Ryan Chitoba, the head of Zambia's Drug Enforcement
Commission, after receiving compelling evidence from Zambia's
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Chitoba's deputy, Jacob
Koyi, who may also be implicated in the abuse of authority
and public theft charges, has not been suspended. According
to several sources, the investigations involve the
misappropriation of over one billion Kwachas (USD 260,000).
These developments follow public calls for action from
Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) and the independent
media. A change in leadership at the DEC may provide the
Embassy with an opportunity to move forward on its anti-money
laundering agenda. End Summary.

--------------
If Speaking is Silver...
--------------


2. (SBU) After some prompting and media pressure, in late
July the ACC launched an investigation into allegations of
abuse of authority and public theft by DEC Commissioner Ryan
Chitoba and his deputy, Jacob Koyi. The investigations
involve the misappropriation of GRZ funds, particularly
assets that the DEC had detained from suspected money
launderers. According to some estimates, Chitoba allegedly
stole between one to four billion Zambian Kwachas (USD
250,000 to 1 million),since he took office in 2005.


3. (C) Emboff received from TIZ (Protect) a copy of a bank
statement, which details financial transactions at DEC's
"Instant Savings Account" at Barclays Bank. The statement
shows deposits of K 190 million (USD 47,500) and debits of K
132 million (USD 33,000) within a six month period. The
debits were all cash withdrawals, in quantities ranging from
K 10 - 27 million (USD 2,500 to 6,500). A TIZ official
explained to Emboff that the deposits reflect assets that the
DEC had seized from suspected criminals, which were to remain
frozen in this account until the conclusion of the
investigation and/or trial, after which the funds were to be
transferred to an account (called "Control 91") at the Bank
of Zambia. The TIZ rep noted that these cases had not been

concluded and that Chitoba, his spouse, and Koyi were using
the account as a personal checking account. It is unclear
whether the DEC, after initiating a seizure of illicit
proceeds, obtained court orders seeking forfeiture, as
required by law.

--------------
...Silence is Gold
--------------


4. (C) The TIZ official relayed privately to Emboffs that two
months earlier, in mid-May, 15 DEC employees had collected a
profusion of evidence of Chitoba's and Koyi's illegal
activities. The DEC informants did not report it to the
ACC's Director General, Nixon Banda, fearing he would not
act. In order to preserve their anonymity, the DEC officers
presented the evidence to TIZ, which subsequently presented
it to the ACC.


5. (C) Despite the evidence, Banda refused to launch an
investigation. Instead, he deflected the case to the
Ministry of Home Affairs on the unintelligible reasoning that
it was a case of nepotism because several DEC employees are
related to Chitoba. Although several DEC employees may be
related to the DEC Commissioner, these were not among the DEC
informants, according to the TIZ representative. When TIZ
determined that neither the ACC nor the Ministry of Home
Affairs intended to investigate the matter further, TIZ gave
the story to the independent daily newspaper The Post. On
July 26, The Post reported the story and called upon
President Mwanawasa to suspend Chitoba and Koyi.

--------------
A Man Who Desires Revenge...
--------------


6. (C) The Post reported on July 27 that Chitoba had taken
action against ten DEC officers who were the suspected
whistleblowers. Chitoba ordered that the officers and their
families be transferred, some to different provinces. Chitoba
also demoted at least one of the officers: one woman was
demoted seven ranks, from a senior human resource position to
a clerk. It is not known whether any or all of the ten
affected officers were among those who presented the evidence
to TIZ.


LUSAKA 00000909 002.2 OF 003



7. (U) On August 7, The Post reported that the DEC used four
armed military officers to forcefully transfer several of the
suspected whistleblowers. The Zambian Army officers entered
one DEC officer's home at 3:00 a.m. and another at
approximately 4:00 a.m. The Post reports that the Army
officers gave them no prior notice. DEC representatives
would not respond to inquires by The Post about the incident.

--------------
...Should Dig Two Graves
--------------


8. (C) The TIZ rep noted to Emboffs that the ACC has
now--subsequent to the media pressure--launched an
investigation. He expressed confidence in the investigators
and predicted that the case would be taken to court by the
end of September. U.S. Department of Treasury Office of
Technical Assistance (OTA) Resident Advisor's contacts
report, however, that Chitoba has "the dirt" on a wide range
of GRZ officials, and therefore any effort to prosecute
Chitoba could be a liability to the GRZ.


9. (U) Michael Sata, head of the leading opposition political
party, the Patriotic Front, criticized Mwanawasa on August 1,
for not taking action against Chitoba. He attributed the
President's inaction to the two belonging to the same "family
tree." Sata also chided the President for appointing other
family members to important positions in government, the
political party, and diplomatic ranks. When asked how
Chitoba and Mwanawasa are related, Sata could not specify.
Instead he called on State House to refute him. (Note:
Others have also made the same argument to Emboffs, although
no one has been able to offer an adequate explanation as to
how the two are related. End Note.)


10. (C) On August 7, representatives from the Attorney
General's Office confided to OTA Resident Advisor that
Mwanawasa was considering dismissing Chitoba. Later that
same day, the President announced Chitoba's suspension, in
order to expedite the ACC's investigation. Koyi, however,
was not suspended. The Special Assistant to the President
for Press and Public Relations, John Musukuma, noted that
State House "had not been furnished with details of
allegations against (Koyi) by the ACC."

--------------
DEC Background
--------------


11. (SBU) The Prohibition and Prevention of Money-Laundering
Act of 2001 gives the DEC sole investigative authority for
issues pertaining to money laundering. In November 2003, the
DEC established a Financial Investigations Unit, which
immediately began conducting investigations. In December
2006, Chitoba told Emboff that, since its inception, the
DEC's Financial Investigations Unit had investigated over 750
cases of money laundering, resulting in 289 arrests and 18
convictions. (Note: Chitoba did not report on the gross
illicit proceeds that the DEC had seized or forfeited, in
association with the 289 arrests. End Note.)


12. (C) These numbers are slightly misleading, however. The
Financial Investigations Unit does not have the capacity to
perform forensic investigations of complex financial crime
and in fact, most DEC money laundering arrests in actuality
have been simple cases of fraud, theft, or other illegal
activities. Chitoba's apparently liberal interpretation of
"money laundering," to mean virtually any crime involving
financial proceeds, does not meet international standards.
OTA Resident Advisor's contacts suggest that this practice
results in the under-reporting of Suspicious Activities by
financial institutions because of the DEC's propensity to
make arrests based solely on mere suspicion.


13. (C) OTA Resident Advisor's contacts also noted that DEC
arrests deny other GRZ agencies of jurisdiction the
opportunity to conduct appropriate investigation of the
predicate offenses. Consequently, Chitoba has created a
separate and remarkably independent law enforcement agency
that operates in lieu of--rather than alongside--other law
enforcement bodies. Embassy sources note that Chitoba and
the DEC are known for their "lack of cooperation" with other
GRZ law enforcement agencies.

--------------
Set a Thief to Catch a Thief
--------------


14. (C) Comment. Chitoba's suspension may provide an
opportunity to push forward on Embassy anti-money laundering
(AML) priorities. Over the past year we have urged the GRZ

LUSAKA 00000909 003.2 OF 003


to establish an internationally recognized Financial
Intelligence Unit, raising the issue with the Attorney
General, the Governor of the Bank of Zambia, and President
Mwanawasa. These developments point to the importance of
establishing an administrative unit outside of any law
enforcement agency, perhaps within the Bank of Zambia,
pursuant to some long-standing GRZ internal recommendations.
The Attorney General, as the Chair of Zambia's AML Authority,
has expressed his interest in pursuing this. Chitoba,
however, did not want to relinquish the DEC's AML oversight
authority, and opposed the Attorney General's efforts. Most
recently, various GRZ officials and Embassy sources reported
that Chitoba caused the withdrawal of the section proposing
the establishment of a separate Financial Intelligence Unit
contained in the National AML Strategy submitted to Cabinet
for approval in February, 2007.


15. (C) Per reftel, an outside consultant who recently
reviewed the GRZ's anti-corruption campaign, described the
DEC to Emboff as "secretive and non-cooperative with other
GRZ agencies." These new allegations lend some credibility to
rumors that the DEC is mired in corruption. Although the DEC
has been remarkably active, and arguably (statistically) more
successful than the ACC, it seems that Chitoba had plenty of
financial motivation, given that the liquidated assets appear
to have been at his and Koyi's personal disposal. It
is--unfortunately--ironic that it took a thief (Chitoba) to
catch a thief in the 289 arrests and 18 convictions that the
DEC achieved. It now remains to be seen whether Mwanawasa
and the ACC will fulfill their official responsibilities and
support a legitimate investigation. If nothing else, this
case points to the necessity of whistleblower protection and
asset forfeiture laws in Zambia, legislation that the Embassy
continues to recommend to the GRZ.
MARTINEZ