By Fanny Kalonda
ACTING Financial Intelligence Unit (FIC) director general Liya Tembo has expressed happiness that the cases the institution has been handling in the last five years have reached an advanced stage with arrests being made.
During a meeting with members of parliament at Southern Sun Hotel yesterday, Tembo said FIC has seen more arrests being carried out in the recent months.
“There was a question on how far cases have gone in the past five years. We are now confident that many cases, with some of them now have reached a stage where arrests are being made, will be made and prosecution is ongoing. I think that we have seen that more and more in the recent months,” she said.
Tembo also said the institution is happy with the performance of its operations in the country.
She however noted pressure from influential persons on the institution but that their goal is work within the law.
Tembo said she is impressed with the arrests being made in relation to FIC investigations carried out in the past five years.
“The environment that we have encouraged is to work within the law, the legal framework. If you work within the legal framework, yes you may be dealing with prominent individuals but the question is, have you done it in a manner that is required? So whatever pressures may have been there, the goal has always been to deliver according to expectations. And I think that is why we are saying that out of the five, we insist on being 4.9,” she said. “The pressure will come at different angles but the question is that are you ready for the task? And if you are taken to task yourself, are you able to defend that you are working within the sphere.”
Tembo said the fact that FIC has been able to provide intelligence even as there were challenges with the rule of law is a plus.
“In terms of the successes made by FIC, they are numerous. We are assessed vigorously from our legal framework up to the systems you have employed for analysis. The structure as well as the cases,” she said. “Having an FIC that has been able to offer intelligence even at times when there were challenging conditions in terms of the rule of law, I think that is definitely a success story that we are still operational. We are still an independent organisation. We have an institution that has received support. In terms of our rating, I would say 4.9 out of five. Another achievement is what is done by ZRA (Zambia Revenue Authority). The figures have been quiet huge and very consistent with actually giving us feedback in terms of how much recovery has been made when it comes to recoveries. So it is a very big achievement.”
Tembo said Zambia was also looking into strengthening legal framework concerning the protection of whistleblowers.
“We rely on enforcement agencies in terms of other pieces of legislation and the whistleblowers Act and will also engage the security wings on comments that the whistleblower is not being protected. But I think you may be aware that Zambia is also looking into strengthening this area in terms of the legal framework that play a critical role to ensure that the measures that we will introduce in terms of how the institutions are looking into strengthening the protection of whistleblowers,” she said. “In terms of FIC, whenever we receive information from the member of the public, the best that we do is that we tell them not to disclose who this individual. We also caution them not to go around saying that they gave information to the FIC.”
And Tembo refuted social media reports that they were receiving information in exchange for money.
“We deal with complicated cases and sometimes issues would be raised so that we lose our focus. We did not want to sit and ignore that allegation. So we did our own internal checks and discovered and verified that the reports were not legitimate. Should anyone who claims to have solid evidence we are very available to be engaged,” she said.
Tembo also refuted claims that FIC taps phones during investigations.
“We work within the confines of the law. The question was direct. Do you tap phones? We don’t. That is the simplest answer that I can give. We don’t have the mandate,” said Tembo.