Another Official Member Of "The Half Stupid All The Way Dumb"

LUSAKA (Reuters) - Zambian police have arrested a former telecommunications minister on corruption charges, the latest in a string of investigations into senior members of the MMD party which lost an election last year.
Police spokeswoman Charity Munganga-Chanda said Dora Siliya, telecoms minister under former President Rupiah Banda, would appear in court on Tuesday in connection with the cancellation of a 9 million euro radar contract at airports in Lusaka and Livingstone, the closest town to Victoria Falls.

Siliya, who is now a spokeswoman for Banda's MMD, is also accused of costing taxpayers 1.9 billion kwacha by awarding a radar repair contract to another company without following correct tender procedure, Munganga-Chanda said.

Her lawyer, Sakwiba Sikota, said police had been instructed not to release Siliya on bail.

Since he ousted Banda in a September election, President Michael Sata has launched a widespread crackdown on corruption in Africa's biggest copper producer.

He has fired the central bank governor and temporarily suspended all mining exports amid fears companies were under-reporting the size of shipments to avoid paying royalties and taxes.

Police have also questioned Banda's wife about the source of funding for a luxury villa.