KCM Liquidator Charged With Theft Of K4.4M

Milingo Lungu, provisional liquidator for Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), has been charged with theft and money laundering, and is expected to submit a plea on the 26th October. 

Lungu was appointed to oversee the break-up of KCM by the previous Patriotic Front government, but allegedly stole K110.4 million and $250,000 between May 2019 and August 2021 from the mining company. He also stands accused of “obtaining money by false pretences” to the tune of $2.2 million by the Drug Enforcement Commission. 

The Commission stated that, “the money is said to have come into his possession by virtue of being the Provision Liquidator for Konkola Copper Mines Plc” and that “he has also been charged for money laundering for the said amounts” 

Lungu has refuted the allegations unequivocally, calling them “baseless and untrue” in a statement issued by KCM’s corporate affairs department on 29th September. He added that he welcomes “the opportunity to clear my name in Court… and not in the Court of public opinion.”

Lungu was seconded to KCM in May 2019 after the previous government placed the mine into liquidation for supposedly failing to honour licence conditions. This allegation sparked a two-year legal dispute between the state and Vedanta, KCM’s parent company. 

However, new President Hakainde Hichilema has criticized the nationalist mining policies of his predecessors in office, and has promised to welcome the contributions of foreign investors to Zambian mining.