Zambia’s Foreign Minister Stanley Kakubo resigns over cash-on-table video

ZAMBIA: Zambia’s Foreign Minister Stanley Kakubo has quit after he was allegedly caught on video receiving a stack of cash from a Chinese businessman.

He did not deny he was in the video.

Instead, Mr Kakubo said he was facing “malicious claims over a business transaction” and had resigned so that the government was not “distracted” by the controversy.

The video shows two men sitting by a table counting the neatly stacked cash, both US dollars and Zambian kwacha.

Their faces are not visible, but it led to a frenzy of speculation on social media that the men were Mr Kakubo and a Chinese businessman.

Some people questioned why a bank transfer had not been made and whether taxes had been paid following the transaction.

Unverified images of signed handwritten notes also surfaced on social media. One said that $100,000 had been “exchanged” between a Zambian and a Chinese mining company. Another, dated 8 July 2022, mentioned a total sum of $200,000.

In his resignation letter, Mr Kakubo did not dispute the authenticity of the video or the handwritten notes.