Fight against graft has lost steam – Dr Kaab
… as the law lecturer suggests that President Hakainde Hichilema sets up a commission of inquiry or authorize a special audit into all the high value payments authorized by state chambers in the last three years.
By NATION REPORTER
DR O’BRIEN Kaaba, a law lecturer at the University of Zambia says the strong anti-corruption fight President Hakainde Hichilema had embarked on when he assumed office has receded and lost traction with the alleged high levels of corruption sickening.
Dr Kaaba, who is former Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) chairperson but resigned said only poor people were prosecuted aggressively while the rich and powerful were let off the hook and awarded immunity from prosecution.
He said the institutions charged with fighting corruption were simply massaging, bandaging and covering up corruption.
“Isn’t it strange that ACC can make headline news for arresting and prosecuting a poor clinical officer for signing off two employment contracts while the ACC has done nothing about the more cases involving millions of dollars exposed in FIC reports?” Dr Kaaba asked.
He wondered what had gone wrong with President and suggested that the head of State should urgently attend to three areas of vulnerability namely state chambers, a captured ACC and tainted corruption settlements.
Dr Kaaba said no serious crusade against corruption could yield fruits when the heart of the legal machinery for government was contaminated.
“The level of corruption is sickening, to the extent that state chambers are the ones looking for litigants to sue the government and pre-agree to settle or enter consent orders involving huge sums of money.
“The scheme has been perfected to the extent that some orders are now signed using judges outside Lusaka to avoid public scrutiny and media attention in Lusaka,” he said.
Dr Kaaba said for President Hichilema to redeem his cause against corruption, he should fire his senior legal advisors or either set up a commission of inquiry or authorize a special audit into all the high value payments authorized by state chambers in the last three years.
He said ACC was a captured institution and so it would be mistake to expect it to be an effective tool for fighting corruption in its current form.
Dr Kaaba said in less than three years, the ACC had entered in more scandalous settlements with some of the people accused of the most heinous acts of corruption than the PF did.
He said shockingly, ACC simply asked suspects to return just a fraction of the loot and keep the rest while the suspect was given immunity from prosecution.
“Using this mechanism, ACC is basically allowing both PF and UPND aligned officials facing serious accusations of corruption to buy off their freedom, using the same resources looted from the public. As long as one is willing to give a cut, they are let off,” Dr Kaaba said.
He said the President should facilitate the amendment of the immunity clause to narrow its use and infuse inbuilt safeguards against its abuse in order to protect public interest.
