By KENNEDY MUPESENI –
COPPERBELT Minister Mwenya Musenge has denied any involvement in mealie-meal smuggling and has accused his political adversaries of plotting his fall by implicating him in the scandal.
On Wednesday this week, police in Kitwe impounded a truck carrying 1,000 x 25 kilogrammes bags of breakfast mealie-meal which was allegedly linked to a Mr Musenge .
But Mr Musenge said at no time did he engage himself in illegalities such as mealie-meal smuggling despite being a businessman throughout his life.
“Looking at what the residents of Chimwemwe were going through,in 2012 I decided to register with Chimanga Changa Milling Company to start supplying mealie-meal and make the commodity available using my building in Chimwemwe Township,” he said.
Mr Musenge said later he decided to stop supplying mealie-meal from Chimanga Changa due to low demand but his driver asked to be supplying mealie-meal in Ndola using his account with the Ndola-based milling company.
He added that three years ago a constituency secretary he only named as Laston requested to be using his Chimwemwe business premises and the Chimanga Changa account to continue supplying the commodity to which he agreed.
“It is unfortunate that the young man is in police custody, I don’t want to get in the way, I want the police to investigate the matter,” Mr Musenge said.
He urged the police to be professional as there was no law that prohibited business people from transporting goods within the country.
“There is need for professionalism on the part of police officers, what they should have done is follow the truck to find out if was going to the border instead impounding the vehicle from Chimwemwe. Groundnuts are transported all the way from places like Chinsali to Lusaka and no one questions that,” Mr Musenge said.
He accused his political enemies of instigating his fall.
“They will not succeed in bringing me down, me I have been performing in the two constituencies I have been. In Nkana and Chimwemwe constituencies my works speak for themselves, so those who are plotting my fall should be patient ,the central committee will come up with names of candidates,so lets stop this mudslinging,” Mr Musenge said.
