Maravi

Zambia has too many crooks, says Hachipuka

Zambia has too many crooks, says Hachipuka
By Kombe Chimpinde
Mon 02 Jan. 2012, 13:54 CAT

THIS country has too many crooks, says Emmanuel Hachipuka. In an interview, Hachipuka, a former Mbabala member of parliament and chairperson of the parliamentary public accounts committee, said Zambia must be cleansed of corruption and abuse of resources and that should be done now.

Hachipuka said the PF government needed a system that would ensure that cases of plunder of national resources were pursued to their logical conclusion.

"Investigative wings must be thorough in following the law processes in court and in police. Ensure recovered assets do not end up in personal pockets when they are supposed to assist the country. Yes, people must be prosecuted and acquitted if found innocent but at the same time we must realise that this country has got too many crooks," he said.

"For example, the same people who are arresting others are looking for money, the same may in some instances destroy evidence. The same people that have been charged with the responsibility to cleanse the country, some are people who are not clean," he said.

Hachipuka said that plunder of national resources was a criminal offence that deterred national development.

He advised the government to immediately reinstate the abuse of authority clause in the Anti Corruption Commission Act, which the previous MMD regime removed.

"We need to cleanse this country and unless we can do that, we will never get back into serious development. Abuse of resources is a very serious crime and I feel we should deal with it now. There are stages in this process. Fighting corruption is a long process. The laws at every stage must be sufficient which we do not have," he said.

Hachipuka urged President Michael Sata to ensure that all flaws frustrating the successful prosecution of cases of plunder are dealt with.

He said the fight against corruption must not just end up with sensation in the media but followed to a logical conclusion.

He explained that most of the cases of plunder in the MMD had ended in acquittals once they had gone to court, stressing that this must not be the case as it was not beneficial to the state.

Hachipuka said that merely grabbing assets from individuals was not enough.

"You must be very sure that you will be able to prosecute and proceeds of those assets must go into control 99 (government treasury)," said Hachipuka.

Labels: CORRUPTION, EMMANUEL HACHIPUKA, NEOLIBERALISM

posted by MrK @ 5:21 PM