POLICE in Livingstone have launched a manhunt for an assistant accountant at Livingstone City Council accused of vanishing with Constituency Development Funds (CDF) worth K316,000.
The suspect, Sydney Silwimba, is alleged to have siphoned the cash between January 1, 2024, and June 5, 2025, in a scheme that police say involved diverting grant money that was meant to land in the bank accounts of hardworking local cooperatives under the Livingstone Constituency.
But instead of helping people buy goats, sewing machines or farm inputs, the money allegedly found its way into Silwimba’s own pockets and those of a few selected ‘lucky’ individuals in the district.
Investigators have already traced three bank accounts linked to Silwimba and one belonging to a relative who, police believe, may have also been on the receiving end of the generosity.
Southern Province police commanding officer, Auxensio Daka, confirmed the development.
“A manhunt for him has been launched,” Daka stated.
Police have also apprehended and detained an internal auditor at the council, Ernest Zembo, 33, of Nottie Broad Township, to assist with investigations.
Meanwhile, an internal auditor at the council, Ernest Zembo, 33, of Nottie Broad Township, has been nabbed to assist police with their homework on the case.
Silwimba, who abandoned his duties at the council, is believed to still be lurking somewhere in Livingstone.
Police urged anyone who spots him to report immediately preferably before he starts approving more payments.
By George Musonda
Kalemba August 8, 2025
