Zambia’s health minister Chitalu Chilufya has pleaded not guilty on the first day of trial after being charged for using ill-gotten gains to acquire property.

The country’s anti-corruption commission made this known on Thursday as the trial began.

Graft investigators honed in on Chilufya, 47, last month after noticing the minister had suddenly amassed a fortune.

“Chilufya… was arrested today and charged with four counts of possession of property reasonably suspected of being proceeds of crime,” commission spokesman Jonathan Siame said in a statement.

“The arrest follows investigations the commission has been conducting against the minister in relation to the above allegations.”

“I understand the charges and I plead not guilty,” Chilufya told judge Lameck Mwale at the magistrate court in Zambia’s capital Lusaka.

According to court documents, Chilufya bought around $215,000-worth of shares in a lakeside lodge in 2017. He is also accused of using $165,000 to purchase a guest house and $52,000 for a boat.

The trial is set to resume on August 4.

Chilufya, who remains in office, could face up to five years in prison if convicted.

AFP