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Probing Rupiah will be exemplary - Kyambales

Probing Rupiah will be exemplary - Kyambales
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Tue 11 Oct. 2011, 10:20 CAT

PROBING former president Rupiah Banda and those who served in high offices during his reign will send a clear message to the current and future leaders to desist from corrupt practices, says Professor Henry Kyambalesa.

In a statement, Prof Kyambalesa, a US-based Zambian academician in Professional Studies at Regis University in Denver said Banda should in fact welcome investigations on him to have his name cleared over allegations of corruption and abuse of office during his three-year tenure.

"Former president Rupiah Banda's predecessor, the late Levy Mwanawasa, set a precedent by spearheading the removal of the late Frederick Chiluba's immunity and he was probed for corruption.

The late Chiluba also instituted somewhat similar instigations of Dr Kaunda. Rupiah Banda should welcome a similar probe on him in order to have his name cleared on any wrongdoing if at all he is actually innocent," Prof Kyambalesa said.

He said there was an urgent need to resolutely and relentlessly fight corruption as it had subverted the political process in the country and thwarted economic growth and stability.

Prof Kyambalesa said every Zambian could see that corruption had undermined honest enterprise, discouraged foreign direct investment, tarnished the country's image and eroded the country's moral fibre.

"Like any other problem confronting us today, corruption cannot be effectively fought without first understanding its causes. Since independence, the causes of corruption in our beloved country have included a weak judicial system; unstable political setting; regular reshuffles of political appointees; a weak legislative system, cumbersome and rigid administrative routines," he said.

Prof Kyambalesa said the current government should therefore bring corruption under control through sustained political will and zero tolerance of the scourge.

He said strict pieces of legislation designed to prevent conflicts of interest in institutional settings and limitation of recourse to immunity by public officials and business leaders and their organisations was vital in the fight against widespread poverty in the country.

He said fostering the development of a free press to facilitate the exposure of unscrupulous activities in institutional settings was another important key element in the fight against corruption, a vice which was behind the country's underdevelopment and chronic poverty.

Labels: CORRUPTION, HENRY KYAMBALESA, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 7:31 PM