Maravi

A very good bad ending for Access Financial Services

A very good bad ending for Access Financial Services
By Editor
Friday April 25, 2008 [04:00]

Fundamental changes in a society do not occur overnight. They require dedication, determination and patience. Bringing about change is not easy. It is a tough job that may result in humiliation for those that lead it. Society does not always accept change however good it might be. History shows, however, that no problem has ever been solved until it has become a tangible reality of which everyone is aware.

This is the challenge that the fight against corruption throws to all of us, to the Zambian people and their leaders. There is no denying that corruption had wrecked havoc in our nation.

We have to agree with Melissa Williams, the USAID Mission director in Zambia, that corruption stands as one of the biggest deterrents to growth and poverty reduction in Zambia, and “given the damage it inflicts upon Zambia, fighting corruption requires a broad and deep commitment from all of us; the government, the private sector and civil society must actively join the battle… no single agency can fight corruption alone.” This is very true. We need to have a very clear and accurate appreciation of the depth of this problem to be able to fight it. It is a cancer that spreads very quickly and destroys nations. Cures for this cancer are not easy. There is no quick fix or chemotherapy for it. It has to be uprooted, amputated.

Corruption is a scourge that affects all like HIV and AIDS; we are either infected or affected. We cannot afford to take a neutral stand while this plague destroys our country. It is not a subject on which we should accept empty rhetoric and endless theorising. It has to be fought.

The Chiluba years could easily have been some of the best years for this country if it was not for the greed, vanity and criminal plunder that seized the hearts and minds of those who were given the honour and privilege to lead us or manage the affairs of our country. These people and their associates fell into the clutches of corruption.

Instead of scheming ways out of poverty for our country and its people, they quickly became organised criminal gangs – creating institutions such as Access Financial Services Limited whose sole discernable purpose was to channel public funds into the pockets of thieves.

Frederick Chiluba and his tandem of thieves – Faustin Kabwe, Xavier Chungu, Stella Chibanda, Aaron Chungu, among others – created fake contracts and schemes that they used to steal government money. They led pompous and extravagant lives and created nation-wide distortions that battered the most vulnerable of our people.

What is worrying about corruption is that it is so insidious that even its victims – the most vulnerable people of our country – do not realise that they are victims. Sometimes they even worship these same criminals who are responsible for their desperate situation and look to them as their messiahs, their Mandelas, their Zumas who will save them from their Armageddon of poverty. It is this that makes it imperative for us to fight corruption. But to fight corruption, we have to be very clear about what it is, its nature, its characteristics.

This is a fight that entertains no illusions. Our people have to realise that we are not in an instant-coffee revolution; fighting corruption is going to be a long haul which will require a lot of resilience and patience from all our people.

The criminals will always tout us with challenges of quick trials and other quick fixes in the hope that if things are done that way, confusion will be created for them to escape being made to properly account for their crimes.

The corruption cases in our courts of law may seem to be taking very long. But that’s how our judicial process stands today. We shouldn’t be forced to create Kangaroo courts for these criminals so that tomorrow they turn around and accuse us of not following the due process of the law. So far, every plunderer has been accorded the due process and sometimes to the understandable irritation of our people.

This is the way things should be. We should believe and adhere to the rule of law even when it doesn’t seem to be in tune with our desired speed.

We have to be patient. The case of Bank of Zambia against Access Financial Services Limited and its plundering directors is a good example of why patience is needed. It takes time for the judicial system to unravel some of the intricate legal issues that these complicated organised criminal syndicates have carefully weaved.

Faustin Kabwe and Aaron Chungu managed to mislead the High Court and get a favourable judgment which is only now, after several years, being corrected by the Supreme Court. Criminals are criminals because they are hard-hearted and determined.

One cannot be softhearted and be a criminal. Criminals will fight to the bitter end. The success of the Bank of Zambia is a refreshing reminder that even after a long wait, justice is attainable in our country today. Not all may be well with our judicial system but not all is lost either.

As we reflect on the difficulty of fighting corruption, we should have no illusions that corruption was a Chiluba-day problem. Whilst the Chiluba cases have demonstrated what a serious problem corruption has been in our country, they should also remind us that it is an ever-present evil that must be fought; that requires eternal vigilance.

We should all do our part to ensure that corruption does not take root in our country. As Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika has aptly put it, corruption exists in our country because we tolerate it. If there were zero tolerance on corruption, if there were no single citizen willing to be corrupted, there would be no corruption in our country.


Some good examples have been shown by the government that it is willing to fight corruption but this will go nowhere if the citizenry do not grab the opportunity and ensure that no corruption goes unpunished. The government has not always been consistent in its approach to the fight against corruption but this must not stop us.

And it cannot be denied that the government has yielded to the wishes of the citizens when pressure has been put on it to deal with specific cases or incident of corruption. We still remember how this government yielded on the Bulaya case after several weeks of public disquiet. And recently also, we had the case of Joseph Mulyata which is before our courts of law today.

This is the way things should be. What is needed is not a government of angels but one that respects and yields to public pressure and rule of law. We will get nowhere in the fight against corruption if we reduce it to a mere cheap politics subject. The public needs to ensure that all instances of known corruption are exposed because this kind of public participation is the only hope that we have of ensuring that corruption is defeated.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) needs to be overwhelmed with reports of corruption from the public, given the number of corruption allegations flying around. The executive should not get involved in investigating corruption. The ACC must be given its freedom and resources to work.
Turning back to the Access Financial Services Limited case, the Bank of Zambia has just been handed a potent tool in fighting financial crime and money laundering in the country. They can investigate and close down erring institutions.

This requires increased vigilance on their part and the highest levels of professionalism in their work. This they have demonstrated in the case of Access Financial Services Limited and we hope they will continue to do so. We must also commend the Supreme Court for having the courage and professionalism to admit that the High Court made a grave error of judgment when it decided that Access Financial Services Limited should be given back to the plunderers.

If such a decision had been allowed to stand, it could easily have spelt doom for the fight against corruption in this country and would have eventually led to anarchy. If thieves are allowed to retain the fruits of their crimes, then why should we fight crime? The Supreme Court has done us proud.

Labels: ACCESS FINANCIAL SERVICES, MELISSA WILLIAMS, USAID

posted by MrK @ 4:04 AM