Lusaka, Sunday. Zambian ex-diplomat and son of
former president Rupiah Banda was on Friday sentenced to two years in
prison after being found guilty of corruption.
Andrew Banda, 53, was arrested in 2012 on charges
of soliciting a kickback from Italian company Fratelli Locci, which was
awarded a contract to build roads.
In passing the sentence, Magistrate Joshua Banda
said he had considered mitigation presented by the defence that the
accused was a first time offender.
But he said a “custodial sentence” was necessary
and “therefore I sentence the accused to 24 months effective today, but
both parties are at liberty to appeal.”
The court also found him guilty of failing to
account for 360,000 kwacha, about 63,000 dollars/46,000 euros, found in
his possession, which is suspected to have been proceeds of criminal
activities.
Banda, a former deputy high commissioner to India
and former first secretary at Zambia’s mission in Italy, is one of the
many officials from Banda’s administration charged with graft, in a
massive clean-up campaign launched by President Michael Sata after he
came to power in 2011.
His father, the former president, is also facing corruption charges.
The Sata administration had also tried to implicate another of ex-president Banda’s sons, Henry.
It had reported Henry, who is based in South Africa, to Interpol, but it was unclear why.
No formal charges were laid, according to Banda’s spokesman Richard Elsen.
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