An influx of smuggled sugar – now estimated at 20 000 tons a year - is negatively affecting the local industry. This according to the country’s major producer Zambia Sugar, who called for government intervention to halt illicit imports. “The smuggling of the commodity has created a black economy which…
The Zambian government, claiming victory over the smuggling of Mukula logs, has released 272 impounded trucks. But local traders complain that the export ban on this and other species is killing their livelihood. Lands and Environment Minister Jean Kapata said the trucks were released after it was established that their…
The 10% export duty on raw maize is a recipe for smuggling, says Wynter Kabimba, a former minister and leader of the Zambian opposition party, Rainbow. Kabimba said the export duty will ultimately make government lose colossal sums of revenue as grain traders resort to smuggling. “There are many bush…
Wealthy Chinese syndicates are allegedly behind the illegal harvest of Mukula trees in Zambia and neighbouring countries, well-placed sources close to a regional investigation in the smuggling of the endangered tree species revealed. They say the syndicate is using a named country in the SADC region as a conduit for…
President Edgar Lungu is expected to call in the army to halt the illegal trade in Mukula tree logs, Muchinga province minister Maloza Sichone said on Tuesday. Muchinga is most severely affected. Sichone said the measure is necessary as the tree is now threatened with extinction. “We have found it…
Eight people have been arrested and more than 500 bags of fertiliser seized by police in a crackdown of racketeering schemes connected to the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP). The raids were done in separate locations in Muchinga and Copperbelt province. Police in Mpongwe in Copperbelt on Saturday arrested five…
