• The suspects have been charged with one count of Abuse of Authority of Office.
• They have also been charged with two counts of Fraudulently Facilitating Payment from the Public Revenue for Goods not Supplied.
• The duo have since been released on Bond and will appear in Court soon.

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has charged and arrestd a Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher at Mwembeshi Boarding Secondary School for Corrupt Practices involving K28,720.

Commission Head-Corporate Communications, Timothy Moono identified the two suspects as Petronella Kaputa, 52, and Humphrey Funduluka, 46, both of Mwembeshi Boarding Secondary School Teachers Compound.

Mr. Moono said the suspects have been charged with one count of Abuse of Authority of Office and two counts of Fraudulently Facilitating Payment from the Public Revenue for Goods not Supplied.

He expalined that investigations have established that Kaputa and Funduluka, connived with suppliers to symphony money from the school account by purporting that the suppliers had delivered the said goods when in fact not.

Mr. Moono added that after facilitating payments to the suppliers, the suspects later collected the money for personal gratification.

“Details in count one, are that Kaputa and Funduluka, between 1st January, 2022 and 31st December, 2023 in Lusaka district, did fraudulently facilitate a payment of K18,720 to Hamambo Agro Enterprises from the public revenue, namely Mwembeshi Boarding Secondary School account, for beef that was not supplied.”

“In count two, details are that, Kaputa and Funduluka during the same period did fraudulently facilitate a payment of K10,000 to Stationet Publishers from the public revenue namely Mwembeshi Boarding Secondary School account for chickens that were not supplied,” Mr. Moono explained.

He further revealed that in the third count, the duo during the same period, abused the authority of their offices when they used their positions to obtain an advantage or benefit for themselves for facilitating the said payments, matters or transactions involving a public body.

“The duo have since been released on Bond and will appear in Court soon,” he said.

The offences are contrary to Section 21(1)(b) and Section 34 (2) (a) (ii) as read with Section 41 of the Anti-Corruption Act No. 3 of 2012 of the laws of Zambia.