The Zambian government is investigating allegations that a group of white farmers and safari operators plotted to undermine President Levy Mwanawasa in upcoming elections, a presidential spokesperson said on Wednesday.
The white farmers and safari operators have been accused by the president’s office of working with an opposition party to cause artificial food shortages ahead of elections to be held some time later this year.
”State House has no intentions to play down or politicise these allegations but will ensure that the matter is investigated to its logical conclusion,” said presidential spokesperson David Kombe.
”The government has an obligation to institute investigations,” Kombe said in a statement.
The white farmers and safari operators rejected the accusations and threatened to take legal action against Mwanawasa aide Alfred Chipoya, who allegedly unearthed the plot.
According to a letter, dated April 3 and signed by Chipoya, four white commercial farmers and safari operators attended a meeting organised by the opposition Patriotic Front (PF) in which they resolved to mobilise the white community against Mwanawasa.
The meeting was allegedly convened by PF secretary general Guy Scott who is also white and has close links to several white commercial farmers and safari operators.
Scott served as agriculture minister under ex-president Frederick Chiluba before he resigned to join the opposition.
Mwanawasa is seeking a second term in the elections, in which voters will also choose members of Parliament and representatives of local governments.
No date has been announced for the polls in Zambia, a landlocked Southern African country where some 70% of its 11-million people live below the poverty line. — Sapa-AFP