Zambia's former air force chief jailed for graft

A Zambian court has sentenced a former high-ranking military commander to six years imprisonment with hard labour for corruption, state media reported on Tuesday.

Lieutenant General Christopher Singogo—who headed the Zambia Air Force under former president Fredrick Chiluba—was convicted on two counts of theft and abuse of authority.

The court found that Singogo had used deceptive means to buy two generators for the air force at a cost of 110-million kwacha ($22 ,000) and later installed these at his private guest houses in Livingstone and Lusaka.

Chief Resident Magistrate Charles Kafunda had sentenced Singogo to eight years imprisonment with hard labour, but the sentence was reduced to six years.

High-profile government officials, including army chiefs and intelligence officials who served under Chiluba have been the subject of an intensive corruption probe. Chiluba, Zambia’s president from 1991 to 2002, has himself been accused of siphoning off millions of dollars in state funds.

Chiluba’s successor, the late president Levy Mwanawasa, took a tough stance on corruption.