STOP THE CIRCUS
IF President Hakainde Hichilema is serious about fighting corruption in the country, then he must end the circus going on at the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
His first task must be to dismantle the ACC in its present form and bring in credible people who would ensure sanity in the organisation.
In its present form, the ACC is a moribund organisation and to borrow a quote from one Zambian eminent person, operating like a headless chicken – no sense of direction.
The ACC through its spokesperson Ms Queen Chibwe reported yesterday that it has received 87 reports of suspected cases of corruption after the August 12 elections and is investigating a former ward councillor of Lusaka for the suspicious purchase of a bank together with all its assets worth K300 million.
From the outset, it is an insult to the intelligence of Zambians that someone can buy a commercial bank for K300m.
It is an affront to any person with logic that an operating commercial bank can be this cheap. Is buying a bank that easy? The ACC should spare us the blushes.
But then, this is what happens when investigative agencies like ACC pick up rumours from social media and go public trying to show all and sundry that they are working.
The so-called sale of the K300m had its genesis on the social media platform – Koswe – alleging that a former ward councillor, Ms Tasila Lungu had bought Access Bank.
At a press briefing yesterday, Ms Chibwe said of the 87 cases of alleged corruption received, 55 relate to high public interest cases some of which involve politically exposed people.
“Other cases include officials at DMMU for allegedly buying an unknown number of Toyota Land Cruisers using Covid-19 funds meant for disaster relief for political activities.
“We are also investigating former senior government officials at the ministry of Health for allegedly awarding contracts for the purchase of Covid-19 protective equipment to businessmen without following procedure and this is a new case and is different from the Honey Bee case,” Ms Chibwe said.
These investigations lack credibility for they are only aimed at maligning and destroying people’s integrity.
The ACC, like the Financial Inteligence Centre (FIC) has become an expert at spreading innuendos and leaving it to the public to make guesses as to who are being investigated.
If the ACC says a stop official at the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit is being probed, it simply means the official incriminated is the DMMU head, Mr Chanda Kabwe and indirectly linked to the Patriotic Front. And as has been pointed out by many Zambians, the investigative wings are not being professional by becoming hyper active and only targeting those in the former government.
For whatever defence they might give, the bottom line is that the ACC, FIC and DEC do not inspire confidence among the citizens.
People have lost confidence in their operations and they can only win their trust when there is an overhaul from top to bottom.
Continuing with the status quo will be an exercise in futility where corruption is concerned.