DEC, ACC STAFF SHOULD GO …we need to start arresting serving ministers, first ladies – Changala
By Fanny Kalonda
GOOD governance activist Brebner Changala says the Anti-Corruption Commission and Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) will not act on UPND corruption as they will be waiting for the party to first lose power.
In an interview with The Mast, Changala wondered where the law enforcement agencies were when crimes they are now investigating in the previous administration were being committed.
He stresses that Zambia “must change the way ACC runs. The way DEC runs and we must operationalise the Public Protector. We need to start arresting serving ministers. We need to start arresting sitting first ladies”.
“The previous ministers, permanent secretaries and those who served under the Patriotic Front are being summoned one by one to the Anti-Corruption Commission, we are having this mantra of persecution. The reason is very simple, these Anti-Corruption Commission officers, the DEC officers, the police, where were they when these people were committing these offences?” he asked. “These are people who have just left government and the ACC and the DEC is energised to investigate these matters. The question is, can they search the investigators themselves, the ACC and the DEC? Can they search themselves to own up! It is very critical, let them own up and clearly state that we could not investigate these matters although we were aware because of political interference.”
Changala emphasised that “these are crimes committed a long time ago”, which should have been probed then.
“These were cases that were not committed yesterday under the UPND. These were cases that were committed under the Patriotic Front and it is the Patriotic Front which has come to account today. And the same officers who were there under the Patriotic Front they never resigned because they were told not to investigate. Now they have risen. In short, this same Anti-Corruption Commission and DEC, they are not going to act on the corruption of the UPND. They have to wait for the UPND to leave power. That is where I have a problem,” Changala said. “You know, when you arrest a serving minister, it is easy to energise the public confidence. But when you arrest a former minister, it is easy to claim persecution. Very easy. We must change the way ACC runs. The way DEC runs and we must operationalise the Public Protector. We need to start arresting serving ministers. We need to start arresting sitting first ladies. We need to start arresting serving directors.”
Changala has since called on law enforcement officers to resign on moral grounds if they are stopped from investigating a certain case.
He said there was need to bring new officers in the law enforcement agencies.
“We need to be up to date with the crime index. What we are seeing when PF came into power, all MMD ministers were called and there was a lot of drama with the same ACC and DEC. A lot of drama. And they only secured one conviction. That of Maxwell Mwale. When it came to the former first lady Thandiwe Banda, Thandiwe Banda was arrested over Mphundu Trust. Later on, the matter went under the water. Mphundu Trust is still open by the former first lady,” he explained. “But check the drama we were subjected to! Because there is a political hand, there is no professionalism and our colleagues at ACC when they are told ‘don’t investigate’ they are supposed to resign on moral grounds… Because, if you know there is a case, you must pursue that case. If you are told ‘don’t’, say I am also going away because this is a good case, I must pursue it. Now when all criminal cases of ACC, DEC are politically inspired, people are going to claim persecution. So, we need ACC and DEC to account. Where were they when these crimes where being committed? This is why we need a commission of enquiry, or else we need DEC, all the staff out, ACC all the staff out and start afresh because you cannot launch an investigation that is politically inspired. That is injustice.”
Meanwhile, Changala has called for a commission of enquiry on the performance of the PF administration.
He has also called on former president Edgar Lungu to tell the nation who else advised him against giving up power other than Antonio Mwanza.
“Difficult times place many human beings under stress. The revelation by our former president Edgar Lungu that he made a right decision and he did the right decision, now for them who were begging him not to concede defeat, hang on to power and put the country in total chaos are guilty. They are guilty in the sense that they were trying to overturn the people’s democratic choice to change government and bring in a new administration. And one individual cited by the former president, Mr Anthonio Mwanza, there could be many but we can discuss only one individual because he was mentioned by the former president,” said Changala. “It is very unfortunate that a young man with full education but for the sake of self-preservation can engage himself in treasonous acts. At that point when Mr Edgar Chagwa Lungu lost power, he still enjoyed State power. He was still commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and head of state as the law stipulates until another person is declared winner and sworn in. So, there was a cavalier of Patriotic Front members who wanted to subject the elections of the 2021, and allow the former president to use state institutions and state power to do something that was illegal. So, to Mr Edgar Chagwa Lungu I say thumbs up! And if he can tell us more on those people of Antonio Mwanzas plus who were telling him not to hand over power or indeed not to concede defeat. I know they have started a new angle, they are telling this country that the one million excess came from three provinces only, how possible is it?”