Maravi

‘Abuse of office was never technical’

‘Abuse of office was never technical’
By Ernest Chanda in Copenhagen, Denmark
Fri 24 Dec. 2010, 04:00 CAT

THE abuse of office offence was never a technical issue as has been argued by the government, says National Restoration Party president Elias Chipimo Jnr. Chipimo described the government’s decision to remove the abuse of office clause from the Anti Corruption Commission Act as a tragedy.

"Who told government that it's their responsibility to remove unconstitutional laws? They should have left that to the courts because it's only the courts which can determine whether the law is constitutional or unconstitutional. That was never a technical issue; it was simply meant to deter public officials from abusing public resources," Chipimo said in an interview.

"For example, if you have a place where you have a dog which you think can bite, you people will fear to go there. But if you decide to remove that dog and tell people not to go there because a dog once existed, they will not fear. Everyone will rush there because they know that no dog will bite them. It's the same with the removal of that law, there will be further excessive behaviour with all kinds of abuses."

Chipimo said the government had put another nail into the fight against corruption.
He said once in office, his administration, through Parliament, would set up a truth and reconciliation commission to deal with people who abused public office.

“We will tell people that ‘we have information that you abused your office, and if you tell us what happened, then we will give you amnesty’. People do not want to forgive somebody who has not admitted a wrong. So, let them say, ‘yes I participated in this corruption and this is what I did’; then we will grant them amnesty," said Chipimo.

Labels: ACC, ELIAS CHIPIMO

posted by MrK @ 9:28 AM