Orji Kalu admits selling heavy weapons across Africa

Former Abia State Governor and Senator representing Abia North, Orji Kalu, has admitted selling heavy weapons to buyers across Africa, including anyone who could afford them, during his previous international business dealings.

Kalu said he eventually abandoned the arms trade following pressure from his parents, who insisted that he quit the business.

The senator made the revelation during an interview on Arise Television on Monday, while discussing his business background and relationships with successive South African presidents.

Asked whether he was previously an arms dealer, Kalu answered in the affirmative.

“Yes, so I stopped,” he said, explaining that his parents were responsible for his decision to leave the business.

“But my parents, my mother, my father came and said I must stop, and I stopped,” he added.

The former governor, however, dismissed suggestions that he was concerned about how buyers intended to use the weapons, insisting that his primary motivation was making money.

“No, no, no, no, no, no. I was selling guns to make money, whether they blow up, it's not my business,” he said.

Asked whether he supplied weapons specifically to the African National Congress during its struggle against apartheid in South Africa, Kalu said his business was not restricted to the liberation movement.

“No, I was selling to anybody who wants to buy. If you have the money, you want to buy in D.R.C, I sell to you, you want to buy in Namibia, you want to buy…” he said.

He declined to disclose where he sourced the weapons, telling the interviewer, “It's only my business.”

Kalu also dismissed concerns that his former business contributed to the proliferation of small arms, insisting that the weapons he traded were not small firearms but heavy military equipment.

“No, no, these are heavy arms that were sold country to country,” he said.

When asked whether he sold weapons to Libya under its former leader, Muammar Gaddafi, the senator maintained that he sold to anyone with the financial capacity to buy.

“To anybody that had money to buy,” he responded.

When the interviewer suggested that his answer meant he had supplied weapons to Gaddafi, Kalu replied, “May his soul rest in peace. He was a good man. If you have money to buy, when I was selling, I would sell to you.”

Beyond his former business activities, the senator discussed his longstanding relationships with South African political leaders, which he traced to his friendship with the country's late President, Nelson Mandela.

He said Mandela introduced him to several South African leaders, including former President Thabo Mbeki and incumbent President Cyril Ramaphosa.

According to Kalu, Mandela once explained that Mbeki's father had contributed more to the anti-apartheid struggle than Ramaphosa's father.

He said the consideration influenced the African National Congress's decision to select Mbeki instead of Ramaphosa as Mandela's running mate.

Kalu added that Mbeki later introduced him to former President Jacob Zuma, with his relationships in the country continuing through successive administrations.