TIZ cautions govt over fight against corruption

TIZ cautions govt over fight against corruption
By Ernest Chanda
Sun 21 Nov. 2010, 04:01 CAT

TRANSPARENCY International Zambia (TIZ) has warned that if the government continues its soft stance on the fight against corruption, the country may drop points needed to qualify for the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact assistance for 2012.

Commenting on the MCC’s preview into Round 8 of their country selection which ranks Zambia among countries passing the 2011 Corruption Indicator taking them closer to obtaining more MCC funding for various sectors of the economy, Lifuka said so far the government had shown poor governance on many issues

“Our view is that there is nothing stopping Zambia scoring much higher than the current score above the median. To achieve this, government needs to intensify the fight against corruption and this can be achieved, among others, by consistent and objective actions especially in the legislative reform process, the investigation and prosecution of political corruption cases, regulation of the media and civil society, among others,” Lifuka warned.

“President Banda and his Cabinet, as they bask in this glory of the MCC scorecard for FY2011, should take time to reflect carefully on some of the decisions that they are taking. Decisions like the removal of section 37 of the Anti Corruption Commission Act on illicit enrichment from the proposed Anti-Corruption Bill will not help this country.”

Lifuka said all the above points were considered carefully by the MCC in determining the score for a country.

He contended that Zambia needed to maintain a high score on the Control of Corruption indicator, especially next year if it was to proceed to the signing of a compact agreement with the MCC.