Corruption Countdown #3. DEC Seizes Malanji’s Helicopters and Hotel

To commemorate one year since the New Dawn government took office, this month Open Zambia is taking stock on one of the UPND’s major manifesto promises: clamping down on corruption. We’re counting down the top ten biggest busts of the past year to see how what a difference this new administration is making.

In March of this year, the Drugs Enforcement Commission carried one its most high-profile busts to date, confiscating two helicopters and an entire hotel belonging to former Foreign Minister Joseph Malanji.

The 56-year-old was suspected of using the proceeds of crime to upgrade his Gibson Royal Hotel in Copperbelt Province. He was also believed to have procured his Bell 206 Jet ranger helicopter, worth $700,000, with similarly ill-gotten gains.

The former Patriotic Front minister had previously been charged with pilfering $8.8 million in public funds in a separate case.

At the time, Malanji was the highest-ranking official to be charged with corruption after President Hakainde Hichilema was elected in August 2021 on the promise of cutting down on graft.

The case against Malanji is still ongoing, however last week he was stripped of his Kwacha constituency by the Constitutional Court on the grounds that he did not have his grade 12 certificate.

The charges marked a highly significant victory in President Hichilema’s crackdown campaign against corruption.