I am not fighting ACC - Lungu

He said ACC was his allied in the fight against corruption but as a custodian of constitution, he would not hesitate to point out ills in the manner investigations were being handled.

The Head of State said this yesterday in Chipili District after he inspected the construction works of Mwenda Boarding Secondary School which had stalled at over 60 percent completion.

He said contrary to the perception that he was fighting ACC, he wanted the law enforcement agency to be objective.

“I am not fighting ACC. I support ACC but if you do wrong things and ACC is looking elsewhere, I should be able to tell them off. If anything, they are my allies but if they fail to perform to people’s expectations, it’s not my fault,” the President said.

President Lungu said he was saddened by corruption and lack of transparency in the awarding of contracts, while ACC was paying a blind eye to the scourge.

He noted that some underseving contractors were awarded contracts at an exorbitant price just because they were related to some people involved in the tender process.

The Head of State challenged the ACC to be objective and take more interest in the awarding of contracts than fighting corruption one sided.

Mr Lungu expressed displeasure that some construction projects which were recommended to be implemented by the Zambia Army and Zambia Nation Service had been corruptly awarded to underserving contractors.

Meanwhile, the President tasked Housing and Infrastructure Minister Vincent Mwale and his counterpart, General Education Dennis Wanchinga to complete Mwenda Boarding secondary school by next year.

He urged the two ministers to engage the Zambia Army and ZNS to complete some of the stalled projects.