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Police don’t need permission to probe govt departments - Milupi

Police don’t need permission to probe govt departments - Milupi
Written by Mutale Kapekele

The police do not need permission from Parliament to investigate government departments mentioned in the Auditor General's report, Public Account Accounts Committee (PAC) chairperson Charles Milupi has said. Milupi said it was not possible for Parliament to instruct police on what to investigate.

Milupi's comments come in the wake of remarks by Inspector General of Police Francis Kabonde last Tuesday that police needed instructions from Parliament to prosecute those mentioned in the Auditor General's report.

"The police fall under the Executive and not the Legislature, so there is no way that Parliament can instruct them on what to investigate," Milupi said when he featured on Muvi TV's Hot Issue program on Tuesday night.

"The Auditor General's report is a public document and if a crime is seen to have been committed, nothing stops the police from using information in the report to carry out investigations and enforce the law."

He said it was up to the Executive to issue instructions to the police to investigate matters brought out in the Auditor General's report. During a joint press briefing by police, Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC), Kabonde said his office needed permission from Parliament to act on the findings of the Auditor General's report. Kabonde was reacting to a question by a journalist who wanted to know why the police never acted on the findings of the Auditor General's report.

And Milupi expressed optimism that the fight against corruption was moving in a "positive" direction. He said the country in the recent past had seen many people condemning corruption unlike the previous trend where those who acquired wealth corruptly were "hero worshipped" and never rebuked. Milupi said it was important to fight the root causes of corruption and not just acting when the results of the vice were evident. Milupi said the civil service was marred by bad practices such as unretired imprest because of ignoring financial rules and regulations.-JK

Labels: CHARLES MILUPI, CORRUPTION, PAC

posted by MrK @ 10:28 PM