48 HOUSES OWNER EXPOSED

THE 48 (51) houses seized by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) belong to Charles Loyana, senior accountant – outstanding bills at the Ministry of Finance.

In this position he was responsible for determining and facilitating the payment of billions of Kwacha to contractors.

Between 2012 and 2015 he paid K1, 060, 000, cash in crisp banknotes from the Bank of Zambia to buy two sets of plots on which he built the controversial 51 houses.

The receipts were presented to the ACC. However, when interrogated Mr Loyana denied ownership of the properties.

The two sets of plots are in a housing development estate that has 1,100 plots and is run by Lombe Bwalya and Associates Housing Project and Khankara and Company.

Altogther Mr Loyana bought 23 plots, the total cost was K1, 700,000 of which he paid K1, 060, 000 leaving an outstanding balance of $106, 000 or K540, 000 at the ruling rate in 2012.

Copies of the receipts for the money paid were furnished to the Anti- Corruption Commission investigation team.

Mr Loyana apparently became a person of interest to the ACC following complaints by whistle blowers who complained that he was demanding substantial favours for processing outstanding payments.

He apparently served in the office from around 2011 to 2018. He went on leave and has never returned to work since the story of the 48 houses broke.

Mr Loyana’s wife, Susan Sinkala, is a person of interest under the ACC investigation only because the husband put her name on some form when buying the plots.

According to records held at the project, Mr Loyana bought the first six plots on which he developed 36 housing units in 2012.

These were fully paid for, but title has not been passed because Mr Loyana has failed to sign the final documents of assignments.

The consent and property transfer on these plots were paid for pending signing of assignment for the title to be issued.

However, late last year, he requested for the property to be transferred in the name of Chali Chitala. He supplied filled in forms and National Registration Card for Chitala.

However, Chitala has never reported to the project to sign the requisite document and when traced and confronted by ACC investigators on the Copperbelt, he willingly signed a forfeiture document after confessing that the properties did not belong to him.

Earlier Mr Loyana had also tried to register some of the properties in the names of his children who were minors and could not therefore own property.

On the second lot of plots Mr Loyana developed a further 15 housing units while others have incomplete structures and 13 others remain bare.

Following forfeiture, the project management have demanded the settlement of the remaining balance by the ACC before surrender can be completed.

It has also emerged that the ACC did not serve the forfeiture notices on all the interested parties such as the Lombe Bwalya and Associates as well as Khankara and Company who are administering the project.

For all practical purposes the ACC appears to have bungled and mismanaged the entire investigation by failing to take into confidence some of the whitstle blower contrractors who could have served as witnesses.

As it stands now without witnesses and without title deeds to prove ownership, prosecution would face insurmountable problems, hence the decision to close investigation and declaration that the owners could not be found.

Equally, it appears that the procedure of forfeiture was hurriedly undertaken as most interested parties were not served with the notices as stipulated in forefeiture procedures.

They are apparently relying on the precedence set by the equally bungled forfeiture of properties from second Republican President Frederick Chiluba.

Efforts by the ACC to find Mr Loyana and his wife have proved futile because he has not been heard of since he went on leave after realising that ACC was investigating him.

The address in Chalala, Lusaka, that he used on all the documents for the land transactions has turned out to be an empty plot with bare land.

There is no structure and no one lives there.

Workmates say all his phone numbers have been switched off.