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Corruption fight must top campaign agenda - Nkole

Corruption fight must top campaign agenda - Nkole
By Patson Chilemba
Tue 26 Apr. 2011, 04:01 CAT

THE fight against corruption should be high on the campaign agenda during this year’s general election, says Max Nkole.

And Nkole said institutions responsible for conducting elections should re-examine themselves and see how they can contribute to the holding of a fair and just election, saying he sees nothing wrong with PVT.

In an interview, Nkole, who is former Task Force on Corruption chairperson, said Zambians should choose what type of society they want to live in. He said people would make their own independent opinion on how President Banda was handling the issue of corruption based on what they were seeing.

“I think that with reference to some of the cases that we have seen taken before the courts of law where justice has been terminated midway, I think that doesn’t show a good intention on the part of government,” Nkole said.

“I think the rule of law must be allowed to take its full course, and that is where maybe people have given blame to President Banda’s government to say that they have interfered in the due process of the law.”

Nkole said the tenets of natural law demanded that the legal process should be exhausted instead of frustrating it midway. He said the fight against corruption was a matter of governance because people were looking for a government that would protect the freedom of the law.

Nkole said abuse of resources and power could all be classified as corrupt activities, saying those issues were fundamental and critical to the overall opinion as to what sort of government the people wanted.

“So the issue of corruption is actually suppose to be very high on the agenda,” he said

On assertions that people who are believed to have stolen public funds had regrouped around President Rupiah Banda, Nkole said corruption cases were taken to the courts of law and one would expect that the law should take its course. He said it was unfair and a great disservice to the country when corruption cases were not acted upon.

“You are sending a message to the people that corruption pays. Corruption does not pay; it depletes the resources meant for the development of the country. So the citizenry want to see corrupt cases being acted upon most efficiently and fairly,” Nkole said.

“I think the Zambian people should have in mind what sort of society they want to have, what sort of government they want to have. Do they want to have a government that tolerates corruption? Or do they want to see a government that fights corruption in totality.”

Nkole said the law on corruption in the Zambia required an overhaul because it did not cater for various aspects of the corruption activities the country was witnessing.

He said the United Nations (UN) Convention against corruption gave guidelines on how to domestic law should apply in cases of corruption, but the government had failed to come up with an effective programme to domesticate the law.

Nkole said it did not reflect good governance if resources were being abused in huge quantities and development intended for the people was not reaching them.

He said corruption in Zambia was a white collar crime because it was the people who held public office and supposed to be dispensing services that benefited.

“I would therefore pass judgment that corruption in Zambia is at a very high level, except that most cases, including very high level cases of political corruption, never come to light,” Nkole said.

And Nkole said there was still time to prepare the ground to ensure that elections were more peaceful than what had been witnessed during the recent by-elections in Mufumbwe and Chilanga.

He said the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) still had time to implore government to allow parallel vote tabulation (PVT). Nkole said PVT was a methodology used to verify poll results at polling stations immediately after the counting was finished, adding that there would be no cost on the part of government and ECZ.

He said PVT allowed electoral officers and law enforcement officers to resolve matters of dispute on the spot. Nkole said PVT had been allowed around the world to ensure electoral disputes were avoided. He said he did not see the reason why PVT should not be allowed.

“I am just saying that as the country prepares for the elections I think that institutions that are responsible in ensuring transparent and smooth elections should re-examine their houses and see what they can do to contribute to a fair and just election which is forthcoming,” said Nkole.

Labels: CORRUPTION, MAXWELL NKOLE

posted by MrK @ 1:55 PM