Dangote Industries Zambia has sued the country’s labour minister, Fackson Shamenda after she alleged that company offered bribe for exchange of privilege.
Court documents on Monday shows that the subsidiary of Nigeria’s Dangote Group — owned by Aliko Dangote who is ranked by Forbes magazine as the richest man in Africa — is claiming unspecified damages for slander and libel as well as special damages in the sum of 112,042.84 kwacha ($17,728).
The Post Newspaper, a Zambian newspaper had carried a story under the headline “Dangote offers Shamenda a bribe” in which the minister claimed that a Nigerian human resources manager from the company offered him a bribe which he rejected.
“He told me that it was a tradition in their culture to give someone a token of appreciation,” Shamenda was quoted as saying.
“May I take this opportunity to warn Dangote and all other investors in the country to avoid enticing government officials with bribes — it hinders progress.”
Dangote Industries is setting up a multimillion dollar cement plant in Ndola, about 360 kilometres north of the capital Lusaka.