Maravi

Corrupt people want to block leaks – Shamenda

Corrupt people want to block leaks – Shamenda
Written by George Chellah and Mutuna Chanda
Wednesday, February 18, 2009 7:55:10 PM

FORMER Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president Fackson Shamenda yesterday charged that corrupt people want to block the leakage of documents on suspected cases of abuse of office. And Press Association of Zambia (PAZA) president Andrew Sakala has said there is need for a law that will protect whistle-blowers to avoid victimisation.

Commenting on acting Inspector General of Police Francis Kabonde's statement that the police service had opened investigations on the rampant leakage of state secrets by public officers, Shamenda said the documents involved in the Zamtel and RP Capital Partners deal were not classified.

"If those things were marked ‘secret’ the people who published them, you people at The Post will be dancing to their tune today. You wouldn't even be talking to me right now. They would have come for you. Let's not exaggerate these matters. We are not in a dictatorship. Those documents cannot be state secrets," Shamenda said.

"That correspondence was from the Attorney General who is paid by the taxpayers. It's only corrupt people who can say these things are not supposed to be leaked to the public. That's what is involved in investigative journalism. All over the world, smart journalists find a way of getting that information."

Shamenda said Kabonde's statement was a serious case of intimidation that should not be entertained.

He advised Kabonde to hunt for the thief in the Zamtel and RP Capital Partners scandal and not people providing information on the matter.

"The police should be very careful with what they are doing. I am surprised that Kabonde is the one speaking like that. It is none of his business to be threatening people around. In any case, doesn't he enjoy it himself when reading those revelations? Let him investigate those things and not looking for those leaking the documents," Shamenda said.

"When something has been stolen, you don't start looking for the one who reported, you look for the thief. So let them find the thief. I find it strange that a professional police officer can be behaving like that. To say Kabonde is taking a party cadre approach in this matter is actually an understatement and let's not abuse these words. He is just being unprofessional. Even if he was retired and he is looking for a job, that's not the way to go about it."

And Sakala said he hopes that Kabonde's decision was not made to intimidate whistle-blowers.

"They must recognise that whistle-blowers are needed to fight corruption. This also brings to fore the need to have a law to protect whistle-blowers. We appeal to the government to create a law to protect whistle-blowers. So that those who are suspicious of certain decisions in government and report them are not unnecessarily victimised," Sakala said. "Even as the police investigates they should be very careful not to victimise people unnecessarily."

He said leaking documents on suspected cases of abuse of office does not pose a threat to national security.

"The Freedom of Information Bill should also be taken to Parliament this year and enacted because it will leave no room for speculation. If we had the Freedom of Information Bill in place, someone will go and ask that 'I want these documents to be released'," he said.

Sakala also said there was a contradiction between communication minister Dora Siliya's defence in Parliament last week and Kabonde's recent remarks.

"On one hand they are saying that the information being published are half-truths and unauthenticated documents and on the other hand they are suspecting leakages of documents, which they are saying are half-truths. It's a contradiction of course," Sakala said.

And Radio Icengelo station manager Fr Frank Bwalya accused the law enforcement agency of being used to create an environment where corruption thrived.

"The leakages we have seen recently regarding the partial privatisation of Zamtel has added value to the fight against the corruption of Mr Rupiah Banda's government," Fr Bwalya said.

He said Zambia did not have an access to information law that would enable citizens know what was happening in public institutions.

"In Zambia we do not have a legal framework to easily access vital information in the fight against corruption," Fr Bwalya said. "This scenario leaves strategic leakages such as we have seen recently by public officers as the only way to get information necessary to make our government accountable. One thing is clear that without information, it is impossible to make any government to account for its actions. Everyone knows that the government of Mr Rupiah Banda cannot afford to be transparent given the clearly corrupt manner in which they have conducted public business."

He said the leakages of information from public institutions should be encouraged.

"Such leakages should be encouraged so that the media can expose the corruption of our current government and blow the whistle for law enforcement agencies to move in and institute investigations and arrests," he said. "I am therefore challenging the Anti-corruption Commission to investigate the corruption that The Post has exposed and arrest those responsible as quickly as possible. No one should be above the law. Those responsible for the current corruption should go to prison in the same manner that Reverend Gladys Nyirongo and others have done. No one should be treated differently because no one is above the law."

He said the police should differentiate between information that should be kept secret and that which is for public good.

"Against this background, any institution that threatens public officers over leaking confidential information about corruption is actually being used to create an environment where corruption thrives," he said. "Such institutions will also be made to account for their role in defending corruption. The police should remember that there is a gulf of difference between confidential information that should be kept secret for public good and corrupt undertakings such as the ones Ms Dora Siliya and her boss have entangled themselves in. Everyone knows that corrupt people and common thieves want information about their crimes kept away from the public eye, let alone the critical eye of a watchful media. In fact, it should be an act of corruption to arrest a person who blows the whistle about corruption."

He added that the Rupiah Banda administration would not enact the Freedom of Information bill.

"I wish to restate the reality that the current government will not deliver the Freedom of Information (FoI) bill for the simple reason that the law would compel public officers to release information that may be needed to deal with various issues of public interest including corruption," said Fr Bwalya. "It is time for Zambians to make these links and begin to demand the enactment of the FoI."

During a press briefing last weekend, Kabonde said the police service had opened an inquiry file on the rampant leakage of state secrets because it was an offence for public officers to leak state secrets to members of the public.

And Siliya last Friday cautioned Parliament against dwelling on issues coming from the media, saying media stories that relied on leaked unauthenticated documents and half-truths were a danger to stability and national security.

Labels: CONSTITUTION, FACKSON SHAMENDA, LEAKS, NCC, PRESS FREEDOM, ZCTU

posted by MrK @ 7:55 PM