The Star Late Edition

Where’s the money stolen from Libya?

- Sebokeng MEKOA SEREME |

DID THE money used to pay victims of the Lockerbie bombing victims come from Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi or somewhere else?

It’s true that Gaddafi looted the Libyan government’s coffers with impunity. It looks like he was murdered so that he could be silenced.

He didn’t loot the money alone; there were beneficiar­ies in the entire process. Who helped him hide the stolen stash in offshore accounts?

What about other countries such as South Africa and the US, or the UK and EU member states including, but not limited to, the banks’ involvemen­t?

If more than $120 billion was brought to South Africa, where is it? I don’t believe that amount of money can be hidden somewhere in Nkandla.

I wonder what Zumantashe (Jacob Zuma and Gwede Mantashe) say about the unfolding saga. After all, they’re the ones who insinuated that it was cold outside the ANC. Of course, it’s warm within the party’s leadership structures due to the heat of corruption, and influence-peddling activities and practices, as revealed by the Zondo and Mpati commission­s of inquiry.

The ANC-led government probably knew about the stash brought here. I’m suspecting that SAA was used as a courier.

It’s a rude awakening to hear about our captured banana republic becoming a paradise for thieves. Did the money come into the country via our airports or seaports? Where were our law enforcemen­t agencies?

Did foreign intelligen­ce agencies know about this? Why then did the ANC-led government support Gaddafi and condone the bombing of Libya at the UN where Baso Sangqu was a permanent representa­tive? What about the money that was given to former French president Nicolas Sarkozy by Gaddafi for his election campaign?

Was that same loot used in order to make sure that French politician and former former managing director of the Internatio­nal Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn was discredite­d by hook or by crook?

We can’t forget the incident in which Strauss-Kahn was set up for rape in the US using a honeytrap.

What were France’s real motives when it bombed Libya? The US bombed Libya before the death of its ambassador John Christophe­r Stevens. It couldn’t be seen as retaliatio­n.

There are more questions than answers, or maybe it’s a matter of not asking questions when you know the answers.

At least when the regime-change plotters bombed Iraq for its oil, they came up with excuses such as the war on terror and trumped-up allegation­s about weapons of mass destructio­n hidden in the country.

 ?? JUDA NGWENYA ?? FORMER Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi gives a thumbs up at the AU summit in Maputo in this file picture. The writer asks who all was involved in helping Gaddafi loot the country’s coffers. | Reuters African News Agency (ANA)
JUDA NGWENYA FORMER Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi gives a thumbs up at the AU summit in Maputo in this file picture. The writer asks who all was involved in helping Gaddafi loot the country’s coffers. | Reuters African News Agency (ANA)

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from South Africa