CHARLES MUSONDA writes
TWO Pastors allegedly swindled former Airtel managing director Charity Lumpa out of K76,600 in a failed Moringa tree planting project, the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court has heard.
Ms. Lumpa testified yesterday that after meeting Yahati Greens directors Pastor Tobias Timbani and Pastor Charles Harris in March last year, they offered to lease to her four hectares of land on which to plant the Moringa trees in Chisamba district.
She said she later signed a contract with the two who further offered to buy seeds and prepare seedlings.
Ms. Lumpa said she was charged K76,600 for the project.
“At the beginning of April (last year), I gave a cheque of K25,000 to Pastor Tobias Timbani, being a deposit against the K76,600 to start the project.
“Later in May, after Pastor Harris sent me a schedule of what was to be done, I sent them the balance of US$5,000 equivalent to K51,600 to their account at BancABC,” Ms. Lumpa said.
She told Magistrate Betty Malupenga that it later became difficult to get hold of Pastor as he kept on promising to call her back but never did each time she called and sent him text messages.
Ms. Lumpa said at some point she met Pastor Harris and went with him back to the site where she found that there was no progress apart from clearing of land and that the irrigation lines were bad.
She said between July and September nothing had happened and she asked Pastor Harris to refund her but he requested for more time for him to find the money as he was expecting a US$10 million loan by the first week of last November.
She said nothing happened from November until March this year when she reported the matter to police.
