Jail term for ex-Zambian minister

Former Zambian Finance Minister Katele Kalumba has been convicted of corruption.

A court in Lusaka jailed him for five years with hard labour in connection with irregular payments of $25m (£17m) to two American security firms.

The offences were committed during the 1991-2001 presidency of Frederick Chiluba.

Mr Chiluba himself was acquitted of corruption charges in 2009 after a six-year trial.

On Wednesday, six other people, including former officials in the finance ministry, were also found guilty of corruption.

Mr Kalumba and his co-defendents had denied the charges against them.

It was not immediately clear if they planned to appeal.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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