Congolese Magistrate exposes ‘Bonaza’ Malanji, says he has no businesses in DRC
JOE Malanji’s claims that he was engaged in lucrative businesses in the neighbouring Congo DR collapsed in dramatic fashion yesterday as a magistrate from that country revealed that there was no such thing.
Charles Kabozya said upon verifying the documents he received from the Zambian authorities submitted by Malanji purporting that his company Gibson Power Systems had engaged in business transactions with two companies in the DR Congo, he established that the purported transactions were fake.
It is alleged that during interrogations by the Drug Enforcement Commission regarding his source of wealth, Malanji produced several administrative documents from the Democratic Republic of Congo purporting that he amassed wealth from his lucrative activities in DR Congo.
The former foreign affairs minister claimed he had business deals with China Civil Engineering Corporation and Mass Investment Group Sarl through his company Gibson Power Systems which is registered in Kitwe.
It is alleged that Malanji provided law enforcement officers with financial statements from Raw Bank in Congo which had falsified business transactions of the payments he received from the said companies.
The DEC was forced to write to authorities in Congo asking them to probe into the allegations and prove whether the said transactions were legitimate.
Testifying before principal resident magistrate Irene Wishimanga, Kabozya said he was more than ready to help the Zambian Court (Economic and Financial Crimes Court) by laying bare Malanji’s ‘shady dealings’.
Kabozya who works in the Ministry of Public affairs said in 2023, he received an order from the High Court in Katanga where the prosecutor general assigned him to verify the documents from the Zambian authorities that were given to them by Malanji in relation to his current criminal case.
He said he instituted investigations in the matter and requested for information from Raw Bank and National Ministry of the Interior; from the Lubumbashi Judicial Brigade to establish if at all the companies exist in DRC.
“I sent the request to all the companies that were mentioned, there was one company that was not identified but it has a physical address. I personally went on the ground because there was an address,”he said
He said the address attached to Malanji’s company allegedly led him to a historical place at a house of Catholic nuns.
“So, the address that was there the company never existed. It was a sisters place Mayenge Avenue industrial area are historical avenues, they are very known, they teach us about the history. It was house number 2 Mayenge Avenue. It was a house of nuns,”Kabozya said.
He narrated that Raw Bank responded and gave him details of the two Congolese companies except that of Malanji’s company Gibson Power systems as he did not hold an account with Raw Bank.
“First, we wanted to know from Raw bank if Mr Malanji had an account with Raw bank. After, I wanted to know if all the bank operations really existed. The bank clearly responded that Mr Malanji had a company, but had no account with Raw bank,”the magistrate said.
“All the operations with two Chinese companies existed with the bank. But the operations with that Zambian company never existed. The bank didn’t recognize those documents, they were false.”
He said he was given bank statements regarding the transactions conducted on the accounts of the two Congolese companies from the time they were incorporated and the same did not depict any transaction with Malanji’s company.
“Mr Malanji’s company had never done any business with those companies. There was no trace anywhere,” Kabozya said.
He said the Lubumbashi Judicial Brigade also affirmed that the documents showing the company’s transactions were fake.
“With the reply from our inquisition, the bank does not recognize all the documents that were submitted and refused all the operations written on the documents,”he maintained.
“The business activities of Gibson Power Systems and some Congolese companies does not exist in Congo because the judicial bridgedate told us that the documents were fake.”
The revelations made by the Congolese magistrate left Malanji looking at the floor in the doc.
Kobozya is yet to conclude his testimony today.
In this matter Malanji is charged with possessing property suspected to be proceeds of crime and jointly charged with former secretary to the treasury Fredson Yamba who is charged with willful failure of adhering to the law relating to the management of public resources.
By Mwaka Ndawa
Kalemba