LIEUTENANT GENERAL WILFORD FUNJIKA IS DEAD FORMER Zambia National Service (ZNS) Commandant, Lt. Gen. Wilford Funjika is dead. This is according to the Post Newspaper as monitored by Mwebantu New Media in Lusaka today. Confirming his death in an interview, Zambia National Service (ZNS) commandant Lieutenant-General Nathan Mulenga said Funjika, who passed away on Friday night and described his death as ‘sad’. “Yes, it is true, he is no more. He was my boss and certainly I am sad,” Lieutenant-General Mulenga said Lieutenant General Funjika was on October 31st, 2007, convicted of two counts of corrupt practices and abuse of authority of office respectively, was given a two-year suspended sentence by the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court due to his poor health, he was to serve a custodial sentence for the two counts of corruption. In the first count, Funjika was accused of corrupt practices when 15,000 British pounds was corruptly paid to his children as a reward for awarding contracts to Semyon Holdings without following laid down procedures. In the second cound, he was charged with abuse of authority of office for allegedly engaging Semyon Holdings to supply raincoats to ZNS at a value of 72,000 Pounds. After his conviction, Funjika was ordered to pay back the 15,000 Pounds paid to his two children for their school in the United Kingdom by Semyon Holdings as a reward from the company engaged by their father. The payment was made on January 18th, 2008 in court. However, on 10th March,2008, Lt. Gen Wilford Funjika, was sent to jail for nine months with hard labour after the Lusaka High Court revoked the suspended sentence the lower court gave him. Judge Phillip Musonda, however, ordered that Funjika undergoes a medical examination at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) before he starts serving the sentence. But Funjika was immediately handed to the prisons authorities. Judge Musonda noted that although Funjika had at one time served Zambia loyally, diligently and honestly, grand corruption was a serious offence that needed stiff punishment.
Posted on: Sat, 24 May 2014 15:35:04 +0000
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