Wynter Rubbishes ACC Excuse For Incompetence
Rainbow Party General Secretary Wynter Kabimba says the excuse given by Anti-Corruption Commission Director General Kapetwa Phiri that the Commission is failing in its duties due to invisible influence threatening witnesses from giving information to the ACC is washy, because the commission under the law has powers to prosecute anyone who obstructs an investigation.
And Kabimba says Zambians have the right to perceive President Edgar Lungu as a thief because he has failed to act on those who are involved in criminal activities under his administration.
In an interview, Kabimba rubbished Phiri’s statement that Ministers were threatening Permanent Secretaries from playing the whistleblower role in the mismanagement of public resources, thereby making it hard for the ACC to execute its mandate.
“Well, I thought that the law gives powers to the ACC to subpoena people to go there with information. I really don’t think that anybody can stand in the way of investigations by refusing to cooperate because that is an offence. If you are summoned to court as a witness because you have information to a case that is going on and you don’t appear there, then you are in contempt of Court and that in itself is an offence,” Kabimba explained.
“So the excuse being given by the ACC director general is a lame one because if it was really true that there are hindrances in the way they conduct their affairs at that office, they should exercise their powers by getting those people hindering the process prosecuted, because they are standing in the way of investigations. They have got powers, ACC has got powers to prosecute those who refuse to cooperate with them and for withholding information which they require to conclude their investigations. So they must do what the law empowers them to do.”
He said the ACC should be pressurised to explain why its not doing its work when it had all the powers it needed.
“If you read the ACC Act, you will be able to see the powers of the Anti-Corruption Commission as they relate to investigations because they have a lot of powers and I wonder why they are even giving us those excuses. These people in the law enforcement agencies must be taken to task, if for example there is a murder today in [Lusaka’s] Mandavu township, and the police are not investigating that matter, you should ask them as journalists why they are not investigating the matter because the police are obliged as a matter of law to investigate when there is a murder and establish who is involved in that murder. So the ACC should be pressurised to explain why its not doing its work when it has all the powers it needs,” Kabimba said.
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