Mahogany Air Chief Executive Officer Jim Belemu stated that he does not know where the purported upfront fee allegations of US$275,000 circulating on social media is coming from, a charter fee which has raised allegations of overpricing and graft.
Belemu said that the whole thing is still being reviewed, hence it is difficult to reveal the original price that was paid by the Ministry of Sport towards the facilitation of the failed trip to the Ivory Coast. The debacle had led to calls for the Anti-Corruption Commission to probe the matter.
In an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, the Mahogany Air CEO said that he does not know where the amount circulating on social media platforms is coming from, he said it will only be fair that the other party to the contract is consulted before conclusions are made.
“For me, to be honest, I have not seen much, and I am very poor at social media, so I don’t even know what is going on”, Belemu stated after being asked by ZBT to give his side of the story.
The Mast newspaper reported that some undisclosed number of soccer fans, the Minister of Sports Elvis Nkandu, his permanent secretary Chileshe Kangwa among other officials were made to wait in vain at the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport – KKIA for a chartered flight from Mahongany Air which failed to turn up.
The Mast reported that Mahogany Air had been paid an upfront fee of US$275,000 for a 120 seater aircraft but failed to deliver the plane. After the failed delivery, the organizers later contacted other airlines and managed to get a quotation that was $70,000 less but with a seating capacity of 250 passengers, a revelation that has raised concerns of graft.
A further review of the incidence shows that there was an opaque criteria used to select which fans and officials were to travel as the criteria used has not been made public. And the efforts to get a comment from both ACC and the Ministry of sports proved futile by press time.
