IS ACC PLAYING POLITICS?
Dear Editor,
“ACC playing politics,” was the headline for Daily Nation of February 27, 2020. The actual story was that, the ACC was accused of playing politics in their operations by being theatrical on high-profile political cases but failed to investigate and prosecute a documented case of billions of dollars externalised into offshore accounts through a pension scam.
I have no quarrel with the ACC investigating Dr Chitalu Chilufya if at all, he has answers to give them as a public servant.
However, pension benefits are the blood life for every retiree, and anyone who fails to pay or deprives someone of this benefit, is a murderer as victims easily die of depression.
The ACC is a public service institution of government like many others, and the government can only succeed to deliver to the public if all these institutions work impartially, honestly and do the best in their respective mandates.
Public service, calls for loyalty, but it does not mean compromising one’s mandate in office, it is simply to be firmly in support of the system.
This said, it will be in the public interest to know whether the case involving 236 workers who lodged in a well-documented complaint about the theft of funds from the BP Zambia Pension Scheme to the ACC three years ago and has had no response.
One of the victims of this scam, Mr Expendito Chipalo has complained on this for many years now. What now begs to be known is does this complaint exist at the ACC? And if so, why has it taken three years without summoning the suspects. Secondly, are the suspects known? If so, who are they?
It is not in despute that, public servants are just as human like any other, and they have a conscience of knowing what is right or wrong, but they have no personal right to depart from their official loyalty as government agents.
Public servants, especially those in law enforcement, have an inescapable duty to handle all cases brought before them fairly and without discrimination.
Therefore, failing to give a satisfactory answer as to why, the pension scam cannot be investigated for such a long time, can only go to suggest that, the commission has no clear understanding of its role as a public institution.
This was also observed by Chief Chikwanda who said, the ACC only targeted more on government officials leaving out other sectors.
As they pursue the case involving Dr Chilufya and many others, we demand to know how far the case of BP Zambia Pension Scheme has reached, and just as they have not concealed the identity of Dr Chilufya, we also demand to know who the Pension scam culprits are.
Who investigates the investigator? A discredited investigation is where, the investigator conducts in a questionable manner and the people will be the investigator of last resort, as all government institutions operate on public funds. AD EOD A TU S MATAFWALI, Lusaka.