‘CURB ILLICIT FINANCIAL FLOWS’
IT is scandalous to call Africa poor when US$50 billion is siphoned out of the continent annually through illicit financial flows, says Caritas Solwezi director Father Albert Sakala. And Zambia Direct Democracy Movement (ZDDM) charged that curbing illicit financial flows should not be left to government alone.
Dr Sakala said illicit financial flows by multinationals were depriving the continent of the much-needed development.
He was speaking during the launch of Make It Happen Campaign in Solwezi. “Make it happen” campaign is a regional campaign aimed at combating illicit financial flows and promote transparent and accountable use of public resourc- es.
He said there was need for governments and stakeholders to pay attention to the vice and put in place measures to end it.
Dr Sakala also urged faithbased organisations to remain resilient in speaking for the voiceless in society.
Meanwhile, Dr Sakala has called on the civil society to ensure there was transparency and accountability in the use of public resources.
And ZDDM President in supporting Dr Sakala’s concerns, said curbing illicit financial flows should not be left to government alone.
“We are agree with Father Sakala’s observation, there is no justification why we should continue calling ourselves poor when colossal sums of money are being stolen from us,” Mr Sakala said.
In an interview yesterday, Mr Sakala said it was sad that despite the high poverty levels, millions of dollars had continued to be siphoned out of the African continent by multinationals.
“We should blame ourselves that we are not doing enough to address the vice,
“The problem is there are some political parties which are on the Western payroll. This is what has made it difficult for us to work together to address challenges affecting Zambia and Africa in general such as illicit financial activities being perpetuated by these multinationals,” said Mr Sakala.