Probe ministry of general education funds abuse

GOVERNMENT should quickly move in and investigate the alleged misappropriation of funds at the Ministry of General Education, says Gallant Youth in Zambia (GYZ) executive director Henry Mulenga. Mr Mulenga said the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) should bring the culprits to book because they were tarnishing the image of Government. He told the Daily Nation yesterday that allegations that some senior officials in the ministry had plundered donor money had the potential to force the donor community to withhold their funding, hence the need to clear the matter by establishing the truth. Mr. Mulenga said the perceived corruption at the ministry must immediately be dealt with so that those accused could either face the wrath of the law or be proved innocent. He said the reported suspension of 80 employees at the ministry was cosmetic as it may have been done by the same senior officials who had pocketed the money to cover-up their mischief. He said Government stood to lose in an event that the suspended workers went to court as procedure was allegedly not followed in arriving at that decision. “The recent internal audits revelations made at Ministry of General Education where a senior Government official is alleged to have stolen K750, 000 made as payments for travel expenses that he never undertook makes another sad reading in the fight against corruption. We cannot tolerate a situation where a public officer loots the muchneeded public funds, “It is not right that money made available by either our collaborating partners or tax payers to the ministry can be looted with such impunity when an institution tasked to fight corruption is there watching culprits go scotfree,” said Mr Mulenga. Mr Mulenga demanded that ACC and other investigative wings delved into this matter and establishes the truth because the suspected thieves were the same people making Government unpopular. He said the reported abuse of funds had the potential to ground the education sector hence the need to flush out rotten eggs.