Zambia: Police in Kabwe district in Central Province, have impounded 39 by 210 litre drums of oil. The officials suspect that the cooking oil was illegally obtained by a local businessman, Cephas Tembo.
He wanted to sell it as cooking oil, but it cannot be confirmed if the contents are safe for consumption. Tembo said he bought the oil at K4,000 per drum.
Central Province Police Commissioner Charity Munganga says the contraband was found following a tip from the general public. The dispatched officials found the oil drums hidden in a house in the Nakoli compound.
Police Commissioner Munganga said the businessmen claimed to have bought it from a truck driver travelling to South Africa. Currently, cooking oil is being sold at K250 per 5 litres.
According to the police officials, the state will hold contraband until its content as cooking oil is ascertained and the source is verified.
Commissioner Munganga observed that Central Province has seen an increase in cases of products being bought in transit. The situation is raising the concerns of the authorities as the source of the products cannot be traced and may cause harm to consumers
Meanwhile, the commissioner also offered another explanation for the cautionary measure. She said, “In some cases, the truck drivers hired to transport goods sell them without consent from the owners.”
Munganga said the businessman Cephas Tembo will be charged for being in possession of goods suspected to have been illegally obtained.
Further, Central Province Permanent Secretary Milner Mwanakampwe cautioned businessmen against buying and selling products that are not labelled.
Additionally, Mwanakampwe noted that the sale of unlabeled products raises many questions regarding their quality and could pose a health risk to consumers. He said that the source and the date of expiry are not known.
“Businessmen could be selling counterfeit or substandard goods to the public which could pose a danger especially that cooking oil is a consumable,” he said.
The Permanent Secretary observed that unlabeled goods should be ascertained by the Zambia Bureau of Standards.
Meanwhile, Tembo who said he could no longer reach the transporter who sold him the oil said he was linked to the trucker by an agent.
“I did not know that it was an offence to buy or sell products whose origins are not known. I just wanted to sell the cooking oil to make money.