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Allow civil society to investigate Zambian Airways - ZCTU, SACCORD

Allow civil society to investigate Zambian Airways - ZCTU, SACCORD
Written by Moses Kuwema
Monday, February 23, 2009 4:56:44 AM

SACCORD has questioned the government's motives following its advice to civil society and non-governmental organisations to leave investigations on Zambian Airways to law enforcement agencies.

And Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) said it was important for the government to allow civil society and non-governmental organisations to investigate Zambian Airways so that they can compare findings with those of law enforcement agencies.

Reacting to justice deputy minister Todd Chilembo's call on civil society and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to leave investigations on Zambian Airways to competent investigative agencies, Southern Africa Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes executive director Lee Habasonda said Chilembo's statement was misplaced and suspicious.

Habasonda said there was need for the government to allow transparency in investigations of Zambian Airways.

He said if the government had nothing to hide, they should allow the civil society and NGOs to carry out their own investigations.

"It is suspicious for the government to imply that we should not have access to information concerning Zambian Airways. We have the right to know this information," Habasonda said.

He advised the government not to approach the matter of Zambian Airways in a defensive manner, saying only people with hidden agendas could issue such statements.

"It's only people who have something to hide that can start issuing such statements. Government needs to have a more open approach to this issue," he said.

Habasonda said Chilembo's reaction was not in good faith and that allowing civil society to do their own investigation was a dimension of good governance.

And ZCTU president Leonard Hikaumba said Zambia was a democratic country that believes in checks and balances.

Hikaumba said the investigations on Zambian Airways by the civil society and the NGOs were meant to help the government to find out the truth.

"The civil society and NGOs will be merely helping government in finding the solution and establishing the truth so that the two can compare their findings. It's high time we put in place legal provisions where the evidence that the civil society and NGOs can come up with, can be admissible in the court, because right now I don't think there is such a law," Hikaumba said.

He said the government should allow civil society and NGOs to carry out their own investigations because they would do it at their own cost.

"The problem is that we rarely zero in to ascertain the truth, so in this case there is need to allow both sides to carry out their own investigations and if the findings are contrary, there should be room to verify," Hikaumba said.

And Caritas Zambia executive director Samuel Mulafulafu said investigations by the civil society and NGOs on Zambian Airways would be done in good faith.

"First of all, who is Todd Chilembo to be giving us directives as to how we should carry out our operations? We are not under him. We make decisions on our own. Let him concentrate on his job at the Ministry of Justice," Mulafulafu said.

He welcomed The Post's decision to allow all stakeholders in the country to carry out their own investigations on Zambian Airways, saying the call was for transparency's sake.

"The Post wants its name to be cleared because there have been unwarranted attacks on it, so it wants to clear its name. Therefore, if government has nothing to hide, they should allow investigations by the civil society and NGOs to go ahead," Mulafulafu said.

Last week, The Post invited various organisations such as Transparency International Zambia (TIZ), Law Association of Zambia (LAZ), Bankers Association of Zambia, Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA), Federation of Free Trade Unions in Zambia (FFTUZ), ZCTU, SACCORD, church mother bodies, media bodies and political parties to check if the newspaper did anything wrong by investing in Zambian Airways.

The newspaper also wrote to Investrust Bank, Finance Bank, Intermarket Bank, Development Bank of Zambia (DBZ) and National Airports Corporation (NAC), asking them to disclose all aspects of its dealings with these institutions pertaining to Zambian Airways.

But Chilembo was yesterday quoted as having said investigations on Zambian Airways, which were currently ongoing, should be left to competent investigative agencies.

Chilembo said he noted with concern that there were attempts to open up side-down investigations by The Post using NGOs and civil society organisations, trade unions and LAZ to investigate Zambian Airways' matters.

Chilembo said only legally constituted bodies had the mandate to investigate matters and that no one should pre-empt the outcome of investigations which were serious and involved huge amounts of money.

And the Sunday Times yesterday revealed that Bank of Zambia (BoZ) had queried DBZ for giving loans to Zambian Airways when the company was insolvent, contrary to bank regulations on large exposures.

According to the newspaper, DBZ allowed Zambian Airways and two other firms to borrow money in breach of the banking and financial services regulations.

Labels: GOVERNANCE, LEE HABASONDE, SACCORD, ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS, ZCTU

posted by MrK @ 4:57 AM