SATA halts payment to Chinese firm, awards contract without tender

He said that the company should not be paid because it was "fake" and was owned by someone who previously occupied his (Sata's) office and that the company was registered under fake names "This morning, the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) was supposed to pay K4 billion to a front of somebody who was in my office. This should not be done. The company was supposed to receive K4 billion as a result of a bogus agreement made with ZRA," he said. He said the scanners at the border post belonged to the government but they were given to "conmen" to manage. He said the ZRA should hire its own people to manage the scanners and not a bogus company.  He instructed the inspector-general of police, Martin Malama, to ensure that no payment was made.

Subsequently he dissolved the ZRA board of directors, suspended the director-general and the head of customs.