Any respected judiciary should aspire for integrity – Kunda

Any respected judiciary should aspire for integrity – Kunda
By Sandra Mulowa
Sat 23 Jan. 2010, 04:01 CAT

VICE-PRESIDENT George Kunda has said integrity is one of the core values that any respected judiciary in any part of the world should aspire to.

During a reception of the 6th judicial integrity group on Thursday evening at Taj Pamodzi Hotel, Vice-President Kunda said it had been realised that the promotion of integrity among public officers including judges was the first step to preventing corruption.

“As we all know, integrity is one of the core values which any respected Judiciary in any part of the world should aspire to. It is not enough to call for independence of the Judiciary if such a Judiciary does not possess integrity. Men and women of the Judiciary need to be competent, independent and impartial.”

Vice-President Kunda said the government had come to accept that corruption was a complex crosscutting problem, which required a multi-facetted approach to deal with.

“It is against this background that the Zambian government values and appreciates any support or advice rendered to the fight against corruption,” he said.

Vice-President Kunda said the government had been working very hard over the years after realising that Zambia's pieces of legislation dealing with the fight against corruption had not been comprehensive.

“For instance, the whole Act dealing with the Anti-Corruption Commission would be reviewed to include provisions from the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). It is my belief that the review of the anti-corruption Act will effectively domesticate this convention,” he said.

Vice-President Kunda said the regional workshop was being hosted at the time when the Zambian government had heightened the fight against corruption to a new level and was pushing for legal, institutional, social and structural reforms.

Vice-President Kunda said the government wanted to reduce or eliminate elements that provided breeding ground for corruption.

“The other objective of the reforms is to strengthen levels of integrity in our institutions, including the Judiciary,” he said.

Vice-President Kunda said the independence of judges' work was also measured on how they conducted themselves both in and outside court.

He said corruption in institutions was a significant impediment to good governance in Zambia.
Vice-President Kunda said the government had established integrity committees in various public institutions including the Judiciary.

Vice-President Kunda said the committees ensured that individual organisations were responsible for corruption prevention in their respective organisations and also promoted integrity among staff.

And JIG representative Micheal Kirby called on the Judiciary to effectively and efficiently deliver services.

Kirby said the Judiciary should enhance integrity and avoid corruption and bribes that could lead their jobs to being doubted by the public.