Solwezi Council Staff Accused in K100 Million Embezzlement Case

The North-Western Province Development Council of Elders has expressed its outrage over the alleged embezzlement of public funds totalling more than K100 million at Solwezi Municipal Council.

It is believed that over K100 million of locally generated resources were embezzled from the Solwezi Municipal Council between January 2022 and June 2023.

The Council of Elders, represented by their Chairperson Kenneth Kapata, has called for the transfer of all council workers at Solwezi Municipal Council, and the dismissal of all officers involved in the misappropriation of funds.

Mr. Kapata reminded press that the region has been struggling with service delivery, and that the stolen public funds would have made a difference in improving Solwezi.

The Council of Elders asked where the Solwezi Municipal Council’s senior staff were while the vast sums of money were embezzled over the course of more than a year. It is alleged that the municipal council authorities rejected claims of misappropriated funds earlier this year. Mr. Kapata called for all twelve war councillors to be vigilant, since the K100 million had been embezzled under their watch.

Mr. Kapata made a call for a complete change in staff, saying that the Council of Elders “have no confidence in the current workers at Solwezi municipal council, they must all go”, as “the current crop […] are a bad seed”.

Also in response to the alleged embezzlement, Gilly Kakunta, the President of the North-Western Investments and Development Foundation (NWIDEF), urged the Auditor General’s office to begin a random audit of all of the North-Western Province councils.

Gilly Kakunta expressed disappointment that a council expected to spearhead development in the district was instead pursuing fraudulent activities. “All councils in the province must be audited to ascertain if they have all stolen public funds”, he added.