ACC arrests Chama education official over K2.5 million school feeding payments

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has arrested and charged Titus Mbewe, 56, the Chama District Education Board Secretary (DEBS), over school feeding contracts handled during his time as DEBS for Mkushi District. ACC Head of Corporate Communications Joseph Mwenya confirmed the arrest in a statement on Sunday. He said the offences are linked to the school feeding programme. The charges Mr Mbewe faces three counts. The first two are abuse of authority of office, under Section 21(1) of the Anti-Corruption Act, Chapter 91 of the Laws of Zambia. The ACC alleges that between January and December 2025, while he was Mkushi DEBS, he facilitated a payment of K1,424,115 to Frelun Commodities Limited for white maize and a payment of K1,073,000 to Ichikwanka Multi-Purpose Cooperative for dried beans. It says he authorised full payment to both suppliers before the goods were delivered and before the Mkushi Council Secretary had approved the contracts. Together the two payments come to K2,497,115. The third count is wilful failure to follow applicable procedure, under Section 34(2)(b) of the same Act. The ACC alleges that Mr Mbewe, together with other people it has not named, bypassed procurement rules by falsely stating that the Evaluation Committee and the Procurement Committee had assessed the tenders when they had not. Mr Mbewe has been released on bond and is expected to appear in court soon. He has not been convicted of any offence. Not the first arrest in this case In March, the ACC arrested two officials from the Mkushi DEBS office and two bank employees over the same K1,073,000 beans contract with Ichikwanka Multi-Purpose Cooperative. The commission alleged then that cash was paid to education officials to help the cooperative win the contract, even though it did not meet supplier standards. All four were released on bond. With Mr Mbewe's arrest, the case has now reached the official who headed the district office at the time. Why it matters School feeding gives p