ACC EXPLAINS PF ARRESTS
…they are the ones who were managing country’s resources, says Phiri
By Kombe Chimpinde Mataka
ANTI-CORRUPTION Commission (ACC) director general Gilbert Phiri says most of the people being pursued by the commission are from the PF regime because they are the ones that managed the country’s resources in the last decade.
And Phiri says despite the introduction of Financial and Economic Crimes fast track courts, cases are still not being disposed of at desirable pace.
Featuring on Power FM in Livingstone on Thursday alongside ACC Livingstone manager Harry Macko Tembo, Phiri said the commission had of late not summoned any politician from UNIP or from MMD but mostly those from PF because they are the ones that ran the resources for the past 10 years.
“If you have never done anything there is nothing we will ever find. So it is not a witch-hunt. Like yesterday (Wednesday) we arrested a politician (Bowman Lusambo) and what I kept hearing is that ‘the UPND are scared of this politician. Look at what HH is doing’. No. The ACC arrested the politician,” Phiri explained.
He challenged Zambians that had information about corruption and grand theft to report and see if the commission would not act.
“So, if you have issues bring those issues to the ACC. There is no one telling us what to do. The politicians are not telling us what to do and we don’t just pick someone in the street and say ‘let us arrest them’,” he said. “If we are calling you to the ACC it is because we have a fair bit of proof or reasonable suspicion that there is something that you did worth looking into. It is not a political fight. That explains why we recently warned and cautioned a permanent secretary who had just been dismissed in this government.”
Phiri warned that those currently serving in government would not be spared in the fight against corruption, especially that they had clocked one year.
He urged members of the public with information on suspected corrupt public officers in the current administration to report to the ACC.
“What people must understand is who has been controlling resources of this country for the last 10 years? The current public servants were not in government. Yes, now they have been for one year and if you know anyone of them who is corrupt, I give you a challenge, report them to the Anti- Corruption Commission if you have proof and see what we are going to do. At that point you can tell us we are not arresting them,” Phiri said. “The reason why it appears to be a witch hunt is, the guys that were governing yours and my resources are guys in the Patriotic Front. This is why you have not heard us summon any politician from UNIP or from MMD. Unless the crimes were committed when MMD was in power …even accentuated these people have been in power for a decade, they have been in the news, in the newspapers, media, social media, so when you arrest a politician the effect is such a great thing. Some of the people we are arresting are civil servants. I just gave you an example of the former permanent secretary Ministry of Health. There have been other permanent secretaries, managing directors, CEOs. So we are looking for wrong doing.”
And Phiri expressed concern about the slow pace at which corruption cases are moving in courts of law.
“Indeed, we have seen [that] despite the Economic and Financial Fast Tract Court that has been set up with magistrates dedicated to dealing with cases of financial and economic nature, we have seen that cases have not concluded up to now. In some cases we are seeing cases being adjourned for a period of a month, two months. That may speak to the need to strengthen the law and maybe the financial and economics court to be empowered with rules which will enable the courts to hear these cases fast enough and dispose of them,” he said. “So, I would agree that these cases are not being disposed of fast enough but the good thing is that they are being heard. As Anti-Corruption Commission, we would want to see a situation where Economic and Financial Crimes courts live up to the adage that they are fast track courts. We want to have these cases disposed of because when we reach a decision to arrest an individual; when you hear that the Anti-Corruption Commission has arrested X, you can bet your last dime that we have done a thorough job. We have convinced ourselves that we have a good case. Our expectation is that that case is going to be processed quickly enough in the fast track courts so that the accused person has chance to be vindicated; either be acquitted or be punished.”
Phiri however acknowledged that the problem of delayed cases was a very difficult issue to deal with.
“The problem of cases taking longer than anticipated is not a new problem. It has been there for a very long time and the solutions are not simple,” he said. “So we have all this cacophony or razzmatazz or this complex mix that causes that problem.”
Meanwhile, Phiri said the issue regarding the K130,000 motorbike tender is shocking to the ACC.
This is in reference to a contract under the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services awarded to Kafelix Company for the supply and delivery of 75 motorbikes work K130,000 each, which Zambians have questioned.
“Yes, we listened to the public on that but we noticed that there were certain things inherent in that procurement that made us very uncomfortable. And get it from me. What you are seeing is what you get. There are certain things that also come to us with a sense of shock,” said Phiri. “All of us as Zambians must choose to abhor corruption. We must not allow anyone to perpetuate dirty things. If we are all agreed that there is no way we are going to be buying a motorbike for K130,000 to ferry seeds around the country side, it is not going to happen. Going forward, you are going to see the Anti-Corruption Commission present in all these procurements.”