Masebo pleads not guilty

Former Tourism and Arts Minister Sylvia Masebo has pleaded not guilty to two counts of abuse of authority of office.

Ms Masebo, 52, who was arrested by the Anti Corruption Commission on 23rd July,2015 took plea before Lusaka Magistrate Irene Washimanga this morning.

She is in the first count accused of cancelling the tender for the hunting concession when she served as Tourism Minister without following procedure.
Ms Masebo is in the second count accused of terminating the contracts of senior Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) officers without following procedure.
Magistrate Washimanga has since set 15th September as the date for the commencement of the trial.

Meanwhile the Lusaka High Court has dismissed the case in which aspiring Kabwata Member of Parliament Clement Tembo and others had sued the Lusaka City Council and Hua Feng Construction Limited over the redevelopment of the Looters tennis and basketball courts in Libala.
When the matter came up this morning before High Court Deputy Registrar Kelvin Limbani, lawyers Barnaby and Chitundu Advocates representing Hua Feng applied for the case to be dismissed for irregularity, the application to which Mr Tembo did not object.

Mr Tembo submitted that due to the costs involved they have not been able to get lawyers to represent them in the matter.
Mr Limbani dismissed the matter accordingly since the plaintiffs did not object to the application.
-qfm-