The Anti-Corruption Commission has secured two convictions in a week for public officers who did business with their own offices. In Chongwe, Resident Magistrate Francis Sato on Monday 19 October found Dr Mweene Nseluke, 47, the district health director, guilty on all ten counts of failing to declare a conflict of interest, Zambia Monitor reports. The charges were brought under sections 19(3)(b) and 19(9), read with section 107, of the Public Procurement Act No. 8 of 2020.
The court heard that Dr Nseluke approved payments and personally withdrew funds under a contract for servicing and repairing Ministry of Health vehicles in Chongwe district, with the money going to Lukem Prominent Ventures, a company in which he had a direct interest. He was fined a total of K330,000, payable within 14 days, failing which he faces prison terms of between three and 24 months on the various counts, to run concurrently.
The ACC arrested Dr Nseluke in June 2025. At that time News Diggers reported the alleged sum at more than K422,000 and said he had been released on bond ahead of a plea on 20 June 2025. The Commission’s head of corporate communications, Joseph Mwenya, confirmed the conviction in a statement in Lusaka on Wednesday 21 October, saying the Commission “reiterates that public office must never be exploited for personal gain”. Neither report records any response from Dr Nseluke or his lawyers, nor whether he intends to appeal.
Solwezi
News Diggers reports that the Economic and Financial Crimes Division of the Solwezi Subordinate Court has sentenced a former Solwezi Municipal Council officer to three months’ simple imprisonment and a K70,000 fine for contravening the Public Procurement Act. According to the ACC statement quoted by the paper, she had bid through her own business for council contracts to supply petunia flowers, cleaning materials and stationery worth about K100,000, and was arrested in July 2025. Mr Mwenya said the conviction should serve as a deterrent to public officers tempted by unlawful procurement practices. The paper’s full report is behind its paywall; no second outlet had named the officer in the reports found for this edition, so she is not named here.
Confirmed vs. alleged
Confirmed: The Chongwe conviction, the ten counts, the K330,000 fine and the 14-day payment deadline are reported by Zambia Monitor from an ACC statement; the June 2025 arrest and the alleged K422,000 were reported by News Diggers at the time. The Solwezi sentence is reported by News Diggers from the same ACC spokesperson.
Alleged or unverified: No second outlet had carried either conviction at the time of writing, and neither report includes a response from the convicted officers. Whether either will appeal is not reported.
Sources: Zambia Monitor, “Chongwe health director, Nseluke, convicted of corruption, fined K330,000” (21 Oct 2026); News Diggers, “Solwezi Court jails ex-council director over K100,000 procurement deal” (22 Oct 2026); News Diggers, “ACC arrests Chongwe district health director for corruption” (14 Jun 2025).