Maravi

Government should reinstate abuse of office clause - Libongani

Government should reinstate abuse of office clause - Libongani
By Bright Mukwasa
Thu 16 Feb. 2012, 12:01 CAT

THE government should reinstate the abolished section 37 of the Anti Corruption Commission Act, says newly-appointed Inspector General of Police Stella Libongani.

Libongani who was represented before the committee on legal affairs by deputy commissioner of police criminal investigations department Byemba Musole, said the argument for the removal of section 37 was that the penal code already provided for the offence but it must be noted that in terms of penalty, the abolished section provided stiffer punishment and was broad because it provided for the prosecution of beneficiaries whether directly or indirectly.

"In the Penal Code, if gain was not proved, the offence of abuse of authority was treated as a misdemeanor. But if gain was proved then it was treated as a felony. However, section 37 treated the offence of abuse of authority as a felony whether the public officer directly gained or not," Libongani said.

She is the first female Inspector General of Police who was appointed this week taking over from Dr Martin Malama who has been deployed in the foreign service.

She said the section was also broad in the manner it categorised circumstances under which a public officer would be charged with possession of unexplained property.

And Libongani said the provisions of the Procurement Act No.12 of 2008 were not water tight to deter corruption because the process was too long.

Libongani said because the approval was centralised, the delays in approving tenders may lead to public officers being bribed to facilitate the quicker processing of tenders.

"It would be prudent if Zambia Public Procurement Authority decentralised its operations to provinces. Ministries sometimes have their allocations returned to the Treasury because they could not get tender authority to expend their funds, "she said.

Libongani said if the Zambia Police was focused fully on fighting corruption, it would create duplicity and possible conflicts with the Anti Corruption Commission.

She said corruption was a complex crime and called on the government to establish an institution that would train officers in investigating the vice.

Libongani also called on the government to improve and harmonise conditions of service for the police to match those of other investigative agencies.

Labels: ACC, BRIBERY, INSPECTOR GENERAL

posted by MrK @ 4:11 PM