Maravi

People want an end to corruption, says Davidson

People want an end to corruption, says Davidson
By Moses Kuwema
Thu 28 July 2011, 13:59 CAT

BRITISH High Commissioner to Zambia Carolyn Davidson says Zambians have indicated that they want an end to corruption. In an interview on Tuesday after she was asked on her expectations from the political parties campaigning in this year's elections with regard to corruption, High Commissioner Davidson said the vice does not aid development and that people wanted an end to it.

“The main message is that corruption is wrong, corruption makes people poor, corruption keeps people in poverty. Corruption does not aid development and am sure the message the political parties are getting from the people is that people want an end to corruption and they want to see a strong and vigorous fight against corruption,” High Commissioner Davidson said.

The British envoy said her country had been working with the Zambians to address the challenges of corruption through the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), the office of the Auditor General and the parliamentary select committees.

She said UK’s support was aimed at making sure that these institutions worked and did their job effectively.

And High Commissioner Davidson has said the translation of the Electoral Code of Conduct into seven local languages by the Electoral Commission of Zambia was a step forward which would see to it that people knew their rights and responsibilities.

She said ensuring that the code of conduct was applied and enforced properly was everybody’s responsibility.

“Having a code is one thing, making sure it is applied and enforced is another and there is a real responsibility on everybody to ensure that it is applied and enforced properly. There is no point in having a code of conduct if all it is, is a piece of paper, so it’s behold on everyone to abide by it,” said High Commissioner Davidson.

“The other important message is that elections are not only about putting a piece of paper in the ballot box on the day, they are about the preparations which go with it and the period of campaigning in advance and when people are making assessment of elections in Zambia, they will be looking at the whole thing, they wont just be looking at how the whole thing goes on the actual day.”

Labels: CAROLYN DAVIDSON, CORRUPTION

posted by MrK @ 2:03 PM