Muyanda bemoans acquittals of corrupt civil servants

Muyanda bemoans acquittals of corrupt civil servants
Written by Mwala Kalaluka
Monday, September 28, 2009 8:30:35 AM

SINAZONGWE UPND member of parliament Raphael Muyanda on Friday expressed concern that some civil servants that pocketed public funds have been acquitted on frivolous legal technicalities.

And finance minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane said revelations of financial mismanagement in the public sector should not be wholly taken to mean that there is an increase in corruption and financial misconduct.

Contributing to a motion moved by Dr Musokotwane where he was urging the House to support the appointment of new members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Muyanda described the previous PAC as a composition of brave, honourable and gallant citizens.

He said looking at the new composition of the committee, it was satisfying to note that it was the same as the previous one.

Muyanda said PAC was supposed to be the eyes and ears of public awareness on how public funds were being expended.

“There have been very serious deliberations,” he said.

However, Muyanda expressed concern that whistle-blowers in the above cases were not being protected and that follow-up action on the revelations was not usually initiated.

“Today the order of the day is to transfer that officer to another department to perpetrate white-collar crime at the expense of the people,” he said.

Muyanda cited an example of the US $5 million that was given to Maamba Collieries Limited by ZCCM-IH, which he said had disappeared and that workers at the mine had gone for some months without their salaries.

He wondered why there had been no action from the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development over the issue involving the funds, which he said were public funds.

“The managing director instead of operating from the pit in Maamba, he is instead operating from Lusaka protected by a certain minister,” he said.

Muyanda said these were salient areas of wrongdoing.

“Some civil servants have been promoted after being found misapplying public funds. Come on let us be serious…From 1991 to date, I have never heard of a wrongdoing civil servant being convicted on account of pocketing public funds,” he said. “Others have been acquitted on frivolous legal technicalities. We know who the thieves are.”

At this point, one MMD parliamentarian was heard telling Muyanda to wind-up his debate by shouting ‘finally’, but Muyanda replied: “You may not say finally because your mind is tired of seeing thieves who are acquitted.”

And Namwala UPND member of parliament Major Robbie Chizhyuka said during his debate on the motion that revelations of misappropriation and misapplication of public funds emanating from the work of PAC had remained a talk-shop issue.

Maj Chizhyuka said in the last three years, PAC had made its mark and that many were of the same view.

“The work of the Public Accounts Committee, your committee Mr Speaker, are not followed up by action in Zambia and the examples are many,” he said.

Maj Chizhyuka said Zambia should copy from other countries like Uganda where law enforcement agencies sat as witnesses when the Public Accounts Committee was carrying out its deliberations.

“When these investigative agencies realise a prima facie case for misappropriation and misapplication, they immediately take action,” Maj Chizhyuka said. “As for Zambia it is talk shop as usual and it appears to end there year in year out.”

Maj Chizhyuka said Zambia had also not attained the appropriate accounting standards that could help in comprehensively tracing the misappropriation of public funds.

“It is important for Zambia to move very quickly to accrual status so that we can account for those public funds,” said Maj Chizhyuka.

And Dr Musokotwane said the diligent work of the previous PAC had alerted controlling officers to the need of financial probity.

“Let me begin by commending the previous Public Accounts Committee under the leadership of Mr Charles Milupi,” he said.

Dr Musokotwane said although the committee did not table any report before parliament, this was the situation with most of the parliamentary committees, in view of the changes in the budget cycle.