WHITHER ACC?

FOR President Edgar Lungu to publicly express his displeasure at the performance of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), must mean a vote of no-confidence in its modus operandi, that things must change.

These changes should involve the ACC being pro-active in following up corruption leads that are reported directly to it or through other institutions of government like the Auditor-General’s Report.

Investigations are supposed to be thorough such that they should lead to a conviction and not end with a dismissal due to discredited evidence.

We are not surprised that President Lungu is not happy with the failure by the ACC to investigate and prove cases of corruption against public officers in court.

He has challenged the investigative wings to take their jobs seriously by ensuring investigations into corruption allegations against public officers were expedited and proved in the courts of law.

The ACC in its present operations has failed to win the confidence of the public as an institution that can fight corruption in the country because it has been compromised.

Its investigations this far have been concentrated on those in the ruling Patriotic Front while ignoring to follow up accusations against those from the opposition parties involving money laundering.

The public has not forgotten, for example, the dramatic manner in which the high-profile corruption case involving then Health Minister Dr Chitalu Chilufya fizzled out last August, raising more questions than answers.

And at the centre of the whole drama was the ACC which was prosecuting the case. The case, heard before Chief Resident Magistrate Lameck Mwale in Lusaka was held against a backdrop of accusations against the ACC that it was biased in the manner it prosecuted cases.

In this matter, Dr Chilufya was facing four counts of having property suspected to be proceeds of crime.

But its own officer, Mr Chipampe Chipili Manda, 34, who investigated the case, told the court that during his investigation, he found out that Dr Chilufya did not corruptly acquire the said properties which he was being prosecuted for.

He testified that Dr Chilufya’s assets were valued at K5, 542, 500 while his earnings during the indictment period, which is from December 2016 and April 2019, was over K19 million.

Mr Manda also told the court that the K19m was a combination of earnings from Henry Courtyard, National Assembly and PMEC, prompting the Magistrate Mwale who was presiding over the matter to wonder why the accused was appearing in court.

When the matter was called for continued trial, ACC director Clifford Moonga indicated to the court that they were not calling for any more witnesses or evidence in the matter prompting the defence to ask the court to acquit Dr Chilufya for lack of evidence.

Tourism Minister Ronald Chitotela suffered a similar fate earlier in the year when he also appeared before the courts of law to answer to corruption charges. His case too collapsed for lack of evidence.

Yesterday, President Lungu disclosed that he has been slow to act on corruption allegations given to him by officers and whistle blowers because in the past, credible hard working patriotic civil servants and ministers were fired on mere allegations which the investigate wings failed to prove in court.

This is a damning indictment against the ACC for its reports are supposed to be solid for the President to act on.

What happens in most cases is that when the President is reluctant to act on allegations of corruption, he is accused of abetting the vice when as he explained yesterday, he cannot depend on the reports submitted by organisations like the ACC.

But there is still room for the ACC to regain the public’s trust by adhering not only by its vision statement but the mission statement as well:

This is the ACC’s Vision Statement: “A proactive, impartial and professional anti-corruption agency that promotes the attainment of a corruption free Zambia.”

And its Mission Statement: “To effectively and impartially prevent and combat corruption in order to promote integrity, transparency and accountability for the attainment of a corruption-free Zambia.”