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FM AMEMBASSY LUSAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4750
INFO RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP PRIORITY 0024
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 LUSAKA 000909 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/07/2017 
TAGS: KCOR PGOV ZA
SUBJECT: MWANAWASA SUSPENDS DRUG ENFORCEMENT COMMISSIONER 
 
REF: LUSAKA 576 
 
LUSAKA 00000909  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary.  On August 8, President Mwanawasa suspended 
Ryan Chitoba, the head of Zambia's Drug Enforcement 
Commission, after receiving compelling evidence from Zambia's 
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).  Chitoba's deputy, Jacob 
Koyi, who may also be implicated in the abuse of authority 
and public theft charges, has not been suspended.  According 
to several sources, the investigations involve the 
misappropriation of over one billion Kwachas (USD 260,000). 
These developments follow public calls for action from 
Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) and the independent 
media.  A change in leadership at the DEC may provide the 
Embassy with an opportunity to move forward on its anti-money 
laundering agenda.  End Summary. 
 
------------------------ 
If Speaking is Silver... 
------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) After some prompting and media pressure, in late 
July the ACC launched an investigation into allegations of 
abuse of authority and public theft by DEC Commissioner Ryan 
Chitoba and his deputy, Jacob Koyi.  The investigations 
involve the misappropriation of GRZ funds, particularly 
assets that the DEC had detained from suspected money 
launderers.  According to some estimates, Chitoba allegedly 
stole between one to four billion Zambian Kwachas (USD 
250,000 to 1 million), since he took office in 2005. 
 
¶3. (C) Emboff received from TIZ (Protect) a copy of a bank 
statement, which details financial transactions at DEC's 
"Instant Savings Account" at Barclays Bank.  The statement 
shows deposits of K 190 million (USD 47,500) and debits of K 
132 million (USD 33,000) within a six month period.  The 
debits were all cash withdrawals, in quantities ranging from 
K 10 - 27 million (USD 2,500 to 6,500).  A TIZ official 
explained to Emboff that the deposits reflect assets that the 
DEC had seized from suspected criminals, which were to remain 
frozen in this account until the conclusion of the 
investigation and/or trial, after which the funds were to be 
transferred to an account (called "Control 91") at the Bank 
of Zambia.  The TIZ rep noted that these cases had not been 
concluded and that Chitoba, his spouse, and Koyi were using 
the account as a personal checking account.  It is unclear 
whether the DEC, after initiating a seizure of illicit 
proceeds, obtained court orders seeking forfeiture, as 
required by law. 
 
------------------ 
...Silence is Gold 
------------------ 
 
¶4. (C) The TIZ official relayed privately to Emboffs that two 
months earlier, in mid-May, 15 DEC employees had collected a 
profusion of evidence of Chitoba's and Koyi's illegal 
activities.  The DEC informants did not report it to the 
ACC's Director General, Nixon Banda, fearing he would not 
act.  In order to preserve their anonymity, the DEC officers 
presented the evidence to TIZ, which subsequently presented 
it to the ACC. 
 
¶5. (C) Despite the evidence, Banda refused to launch an 
investigation.  Instead, he deflected the case to the 
Ministry of Home Affairs on the unintelligible reasoning that 
it was a case of nepotism because several DEC employees are 
related to Chitoba.  Although several DEC employees may be 
related to the DEC Commissioner, these were not among the DEC 
informants, according to the TIZ representative.  When TIZ 
determined that neither the ACC nor the Ministry of Home 
Affairs intended to investigate the matter further, TIZ gave 
the story to the independent daily newspaper The Post.  On 
July 26, The Post reported the story and called upon 
President Mwanawasa to suspend Chitoba and Koyi. 
 
---------------------------- 
A Man Who Desires Revenge... 
---------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) The Post reported on July 27 that Chitoba had taken 
action against ten DEC officers who were the suspected 
whistleblowers.  Chitoba ordered that the officers and their 
families be transferred, some to different provinces. Chitoba 
also demoted at least one of the officers:  one woman was 
demoted seven ranks, from a senior human resource position to 
a clerk.  It is not known whether any or all of the ten 
affected officers were among those who presented the evidence 
to TIZ. 
 
 
LUSAKA 00000909  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶7. (U) On August 7, The Post reported that the DEC used four 
armed military officers to forcefully transfer several of the 
suspected whistleblowers.  The Zambian Army officers entered 
one DEC officer's home at 3:00 a.m. and another at 
approximately 4:00 a.m.  The Post reports that the Army 
officers gave them no prior notice.  DEC representatives 
would not respond to inquires by The Post about the incident. 
 
------------------------ 
...Should Dig Two Graves 
------------------------ 
 
¶8. (C) The TIZ rep noted to Emboffs that the ACC has 
now--subsequent to the media pressure--launched an 
investigation.  He expressed confidence in the investigators 
and predicted that the case would be taken to court by the 
end of September.  U.S. Department of Treasury Office of 
Technical Assistance (OTA) Resident Advisor's contacts 
report, however, that Chitoba has "the dirt" on a wide range 
of GRZ officials, and therefore any effort to prosecute 
Chitoba could be a liability to the GRZ. 
 
¶9. (U) Michael Sata, head of the leading opposition political 
party, the Patriotic Front, criticized Mwanawasa on August 1, 
for not taking action against Chitoba.  He attributed the 
President's inaction to the two belonging to the same "family 
tree."  Sata also chided the President for appointing other 
family members to important positions in government, the 
political party, and diplomatic ranks.  When asked how 
Chitoba and Mwanawasa are related, Sata could not specify. 
Instead he called on State House to refute him. (Note: 
Others have also made the same argument to Emboffs, although 
no one has been able to offer an adequate explanation as to 
how the two are related.  End Note.) 
 
¶10. (C) On August 7, representatives from the Attorney 
General's Office confided to OTA Resident Advisor that 
Mwanawasa was considering dismissing Chitoba.  Later that 
same day, the President announced Chitoba's suspension, in 
order to expedite the ACC's investigation.  Koyi, however, 
was not suspended.  The Special Assistant to the President 
for Press and Public Relations, John Musukuma, noted that 
State House "had not been furnished with details of 
allegations against (Koyi) by the ACC." 
 
-------------- 
DEC Background 
-------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) The Prohibition and Prevention of Money-Laundering 
Act of 2001 gives the DEC sole investigative authority for 
issues pertaining to money laundering.  In November 2003, the 
DEC established a Financial Investigations Unit, which 
immediately began conducting investigations.  In December 
2006, Chitoba told Emboff that, since its inception, the 
DEC's Financial Investigations Unit had investigated over 750 
cases of money laundering, resulting in 289 arrests and 18 
convictions.  (Note:  Chitoba did not report on the gross 
illicit proceeds that the DEC had seized or forfeited, in 
association with the 289 arrests.  End Note.) 
 
¶12. (C) These numbers are slightly misleading, however.  The 
Financial Investigations Unit does not have the capacity to 
perform forensic investigations of complex financial crime 
and in fact, most DEC money laundering arrests in actuality 
have been simple cases of fraud, theft, or other illegal 
activities.  Chitoba's apparently liberal interpretation of 
"money laundering," to mean virtually any crime involving 
financial proceeds, does not meet international standards. 
OTA Resident Advisor's contacts suggest that this practice 
results in the under-reporting of Suspicious Activities by 
financial institutions because of the DEC's propensity to 
make arrests based solely on mere suspicion. 
 
¶13. (C) OTA Resident Advisor's contacts also noted that DEC 
arrests deny other GRZ agencies of jurisdiction the 
opportunity to conduct appropriate investigation of the 
predicate offenses.   Consequently, Chitoba has created a 
separate and remarkably independent law enforcement agency 
that operates in lieu of--rather than alongside--other law 
enforcement bodies.  Embassy sources note that Chitoba and 
the DEC are known for their "lack of cooperation" with other 
GRZ law enforcement agencies. 
 
---------------------------- 
Set a Thief to Catch a Thief 
---------------------------- 
 
¶14. (C) Comment. Chitoba's suspension may provide an 
opportunity to push forward on Embassy anti-money laundering 
(AML) priorities.  Over the past year we have urged the GRZ 
 
LUSAKA 00000909  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
to establish an internationally recognized Financial 
Intelligence Unit, raising the issue with the Attorney 
General, the Governor of the Bank of Zambia, and President 
Mwanawasa.  These developments point to the importance of 
establishing an administrative unit outside of any law 
enforcement agency, perhaps within the Bank of Zambia, 
pursuant to some long-standing GRZ internal recommendations. 
The Attorney General, as the Chair of Zambia's AML Authority, 
has expressed his interest in pursuing this.  Chitoba, 
however, did not want to relinquish the DEC's AML oversight 
authority, and opposed the Attorney General's efforts.  Most 
recently, various GRZ officials and Embassy sources reported 
that Chitoba caused the withdrawal of the section proposing 
the establishment of a separate Financial Intelligence Unit 
contained in the National AML Strategy submitted to Cabinet 
for approval in February, 2007. 
 
¶15. (C) Per reftel, an outside consultant who recently 
reviewed the GRZ's anti-corruption campaign, described the 
DEC to Emboff as "secretive and non-cooperative with other 
GRZ agencies." These new allegations lend some credibility to 
rumors that the DEC is mired in corruption.  Although the DEC 
has been remarkably active, and arguably (statistically) more 
successful than the ACC, it seems that Chitoba had plenty of 
financial motivation, given that the liquidated assets appear 
to have been at his and Koyi's personal disposal.  It 
is--unfortunately--ironic that it took a thief (Chitoba) to 
catch a thief in the 289 arrests and 18 convictions that the 
DEC achieved.  It now remains to be seen whether Mwanawasa 
and the ACC will fulfill their official responsibilities and 
support a legitimate investigation.  If nothing else, this 
case points to the necessity of whistleblower protection and 
asset forfeiture laws in Zambia, legislation that the Embassy 
continues to recommend to the GRZ. 
MARTINEZ