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70% of corruption cases received last year involved govt officials – ACC

70% of corruption cases received last year involved govt officials – ACC
Written by Masuzyo Chakwe
Saturday, January 10, 2009 2:41:33 AM

ANTI Corruption Commission (ACC) acting director general Rosewin Wandi yesterday said about 70 per cent of corruption cases received last year involved government officials. And Wandi said the prosecution of high profile cases has shown that no one is above the law.

Meanwhile, Wandi said the case involving National Revolution Party president Cosmo Mumba, where he allegedly received K15 million from President Rupiah Banda during election campaigns, had been disposed of due to insufficient evidence.

During the 2008 end of year press briefing, Wandi said ACC last year received 696 categorised cases of corruption of which between 60 and 70 per cent were complaints against government officials.

Wandi said ACC received a total of 2,007 reports of which 696 were catergorised as corruption complaints while 1,311 were non-corruption related complaints and were treated as information received.

She said from the 696 corruption complaints, 387 cases were authorised for investigations while 307 cases were not authorised for investigations as they were deemed not to be pursuable and appropriate advice was given to the complainants for appropriate action.

Wandi said according to the reports received by the ACC, between 60 and 70 per cent of reports were complaints against government officials while only 20 per cent were on officials in the private sector.

She said the rest were complaints from other government agencies and the civil society organisations.

Wandi said ACC also participated in the monitoring of the October presidential elections where 68 complaints on allegations of electoral malpractices were received.

"Some cases were investigated but no tangible evidence was adduced and these cases were closed while the rest of the cases were referred to and resolved through the conflict management committees in the various districts," she said.

Wandi said the Acc investigated a number of cases where arrests were effected and cases brought before the courts of law where sufficient evidence was established. She said administrative action was recommended to appropriate authorities where violations were established but the evidence did not meet prosecution standards.

"The prosecution of high-profile cases has shown that no one is above the law. The law must take its course. Whoever indulges, the due process must take its course. If convicted, they must serve the jail sentence," she said.

Wandi also warned those who indulge in corrupt practices that ACC would continue to implement the concept of 'no sacred cows' in investigations.

Wandi said the year 2008 was characterised with a number of challenges for Zambia which in turn affected the smooth operations of most government ministries, departments and agencies including ACC.

She said the year 2008 had also marked the end of a four-year strategic plan which ran from 2004 to 2008. The plan had placed more emphasis on the prevention of corruption without necessarily downplaying the functions of investigations, prosecutions and education.

Meanwhile, Wandi said ACC recorded a total of 31 arrests for various offences of corruption and in the same period under review.

She said 11 convictions were secured while two acquittals and one withdrawal were also recorded.

Wandi said the total number of cases before the courts of law now stands at 87 while cases pending judgment by close of the year stood at 10.

She said there was need for speedy approval of the National Anti Corruption policy aimed at serving as the umbrella guide for anti-corruption prevention interventions in all sectors of government and the society in general.

Wandi said there was need for the government to provide funding to institutions that have established integrity committees to cover their activities. She said there was also need for ACC and the governance secretariat to speedily conduct the corruption diagnostic survey that would provide new data and information after the 2004 governance baseline survey on issues of corruption and governance in Zambia and enable timely and focused corruption interventions.

Wandi said ACC had developed another strategic plan to be launched next Thursday for the next five years to run from 2009 to 2013. In this plan, ACC has repositioned itself to further propel the fight against corruption in Zambia with a new vision to be a lead institution of a broad sector alliance for combating corruption in Zambia.

Labels: ACC, CORRUPTION, GOVERNANCE

posted by MrK @ 2:42 AM