‘ACC, Ministry of information to establish graft hot lines’

PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema has asked the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) working with the Ministry of Information and Media to establish hot lines to report cases of corruption and abduction of citizens.

President Hichilema said the government must also strengthen the protection of whistleblowers.

President Hichilema has since asked citizens being requested to pay bribes to public officers to report and record them.

He said his administration will not shield anyone found wanting, but ensure that the law take its course.

And President Hichilema disclosed that he engaged Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Stanley Kakubo on the alleged suspected corruption involving him and some Chinese.

He said the minister explained that he was on a mission to buy premix concrete because he is building in the same area and stated that maybe he should have not taken an envelope containing a calendar and diary because he did not get any money.

The President challenged citizens with information other than what Mr Kakubo told him to furnish him with details so that he act on it as the government is accountable to citizens.

Meanwhile, the President said government has restored the rule of law and freedom of speech which are key in reviving the economy.

Mr Hichilema said he will not allow UPND members to be new thugs in town, but encouraged them to trade with others freely. He said those who were fighting others in the past should not provoke people but pray hard for continued peace.

“My administration is committed to restoring the economy which I took over with high debt and empty coffers, therefore Government is making progress in restoring the economy by sealing leakages as seen from the payment of retirees and council workers,” President Hichilema said.

Meanwhile, Mr Hichilema said the government will not pay certain contractors who did not deliver any projects as an audit was underway.

He said Government will not pay for services that it did not receive as contracts worth K12 billion were corruptly issued. He also revealed that the government has engaged China and other creditors to negotiate the debt package.

He thanked China for agreeing to join a common framework to resolve the country’s debt crisis.