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Corruption still a problem, Zambia not an exception cries TIZ

….Shamakamba says the commission is determined to prosecute anybody, not only in present but also past corruption cases and will ensure that those involved in the corrupt activities are brought to book.

By Francis Maingaila
Lusaka(31-01-2023-Zambia24) – The 2022 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) revealed that despite gains made corruption across the world is still a problem and Zambia is not an exception in the equation.
Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) Director General Tom Shamakamba expressed concern that number 33 scored by Zambia at the 2022 CPI shows that the corruption situation in Zambia has not changed much.
Shamakamba told journalists during the launch of the CPI at Pamodzi hotel that Zambia’s stagnation is an indication strategy used to fight corruption in the past is not working.
He said the ACC is working hard to widen the scope of the corruption fight and promised to ensure that soon or later those people involved in corruption will meet their fate.
He disclosed that the ACC has engaged partners across borders to help in curbing corruption
He said the commission is determined to prosecute anybody, not only present but also past corruption cases and ensure that those involved in the corruption activities will be brought to book.
He denied the ACC is targeting people that worked in the previous administration in the quest to fight against corruption.
He observed that money was squandered in the previous administration and has written to the supervisors in the administration to suspend those charged with tie corruption and soon will be appearing in court.
He said the commission has also proposed the enactment of a law that will monitor the property of those employed in public services.
The ACC will also require to see a declaration of assets when one enters the civil service and then leave the service to declare what was acquired.
He vowed the ACC will be investigating the assets that have been declared to ascertain consistency.
And Shamakamba expressed the need to enact the proposed law that designed ay regulating political and campaign funding.
The ACC chief observed that there is a lot of money circulating in political circles that can easily compromise the security of the country.
He said once the law is enacted in Zambia, all political parties will be compelled to declare their sources of funding for all political activities.
And Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) president Kalunga Sampa urged the ACC to assist his organization in ensuring that the law is not only formulated to compel political party32 to declare2 their sources of funding but also enacted as a matter of urgency.
Sampa regretted that there is reluctance among political parties and members of parliament to bring the law to parliament for enactment because it is viewed as an infringement on their rights to source funding to run political parties and campaigning.
Sampa explained that the 2022 CPI is worrying that corruption seems to be rising in many countries including Zambia.
He regretted that corruption in Zambia is manifested in political activities and procurement and warned that if this is not corrected, it can cause civil unrest.
He observed during elections, corruption can cause civil unrest as experienced in the previous elections
He suggested that the UPND has promised to find means to end the corruption and improve the CPI recording.
He suggested that what has led to the stagnation of the CPI is the failure to fight and bring the vice to end.
He said in the previous years the TIZ had made proposals to end vice but the government had not taken the recommendation seriously.
“One of the proposals to end corruption is to name and shame people named in the Auditor General reports and Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) reports but this has not happened either.”
He doubts there is a new corruption plan to end the vice and if there is it is not been communicated to stakeholders
He is of the view that there are people employed in the republic to carry out specialized investigations.
He said the government should ensure that the acc and its allies should have the resources and independence to operate effectively
He said the government should not only improve information dissemination and access to information to enable the people to see what is happening but also limit the private sector influence by way of regulating the political funding that leads to state capture.
He said the government entities including the fic should ensure that illicit financial flows are controlled
He said the government should the anti-corruption strategies and have the same communication with the parties.
He said it is possible to create a Zambia that is corruption free only the government could wand together and fight the vice together.
Sampa observed that it is not the duty of the whistleblower to establish the authenticity of the report presented for investigations.
He said the whistleblower must report the matter as obtained and if the whistleblower is punished for reporting the matter then it will close them out from reporting for further investigations.
Sampa explained that the 2022 CPI is worrying that corruption seems to be on the rising in many countries including Zambia.
He regretted that corruption in Zambia is manifested in political activities and procurement and warned that if these are not corrected, it can cause civil unrest.
He observed during elections, corruption can cause civil unrest as experienced in the previous elections
He suggested that the UPND has promised to find means to end the corruption and improve the CPI
He suggested that what has led to the stagnation of the CPI is the failure to fight and bring the vice to end.
“In the previous year, the TIZ had made proposals to end vice but the government had not taken the recommendation seriously. One of the proposals to end corruption is in name and shame purposes but this has not happened ed either.”
He doubts there is a new corruption plan to end the vice and if there is it is not been communicated to stakeholders
He is of the view that there are people employed in the republic to carry out specialized investigations.
He said the government should not only ensure that the ACC and allies should have the resources and independence to operate effectively but also improve information dissemination and access to information to enable the people to see what is happening.
“The government should limit private sector influence by way of regulating the political funding that leads to state capture.
Equally, government entities including the fic should ensure that illicit financial flows are controlled
The government should develop anti-corruption strategies and have the same communication with the parties.
He said it is possible to create a Zambia that is corruption free only the government could work together and fight the vice together.
Similarly, Transparency International Zambia has equally proposed a law that will protect the whistleblower from being declared a public misfit and from prosecution when the report presented to law enforcement agencies may prove otherwise.
Sampa observed that it is not the duty of the whistleblower to establish the authenticity of the report presented for investigations.
He said the whistleblower must report the matter as obtained and if the whistleblower is punished for reporting the matter then it will close them out from reporting for further investigations.
Speaking earlier, TIZ program coordinator Timaka Halwindi said the index shows that corruption and conflicts are interrelated and cannot be separate because they feed each other.
She said the top performing countries on the index are Demark after scoring 90 and Somalia remains at the bottom at 12.
She explained that the top performing countries recorded between 90 and 66 while the least have below 43.
She notes that the subharan regions are trailing behind eastern Europe and Asian countries on the CPI index.
She said countries that are resistant to organized crime score very high in the corruption index perceptions while those that recorded least tolerated the vices.
She noted that the war in Ukraine has equally exposed how deeply countries are involved in the fight against corruption.
Security challenges equally have exposed the countries to corruption in some countries that have recorded the least ad is the case of DRC
Since 2017, she said, 8 countries have made improvements while 26 countries have reached the lowest
Coming back to Zambia the situation where 9 different sources were used to ascertain its corruption perception has remained unchanged at 33.
In the region, Zambia is not doing any better when compared to Botswana Rwanda et al.
She observed that from the 9 sources, only two, including je world economic forum and world justice project rule recorded positive, the rest maintain constant.
What has led to remain the same is there the data sources have not been updated and new information has not been brought to light.
The biggest problem in Zambia is political corruption, limited transparency and accountability, excessive patronage, bribery, and state capture.

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