HH DEALS WITH ACC DG DIRECTLY…he’s answerable, can’t escape the chaotic hangovercoming from previous administrations – Changala

HH DEALS WITH ACC DG DIRECTLY
…he’s answerable, can’t escape the chaotic hangover
coming from previous administrations – Changala


By Thomas Ngala ( The Mast)



GOOD governance activist Brebner Changala has wowed Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) board member O’Brien Kaaba for his bravery in addressing the perceived wrongs at the commission.

Changala urged citizens to give kudos to Dr Kaaba, a University of Zambia (UNZA) law lecturer, saying that there are very few Zambians who can break ranks.

“He is a brave man, a patriot, and he must be celebrated,” Changala told The Mast.

On Monday, Dr Kaaba charged that ACC was captured, adding that it was a mistake to expect it to be an effective tool for fighting corruption in its current form.

He lamented that the strong anti-corruption fight President Hakainde Hichilema launched when he ascended to office has ebbed off and lost traction.

Dr Kaaba said institutions charged with fighting corruption are 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 (Financial Intelligence Centre) reports? Why should the poor be prosecuted aggressively while the rich and powerful are let off the hook and given immunity (‘read rewarded’). Just what has gone wrong? Here are my three areas of vulnerability, which the President needs to urgently attend to if the fight has to be resuscitated, look credible and gain traction,” he stated.

Dr Kaaba charged that the forces that are ripping off state resources through State Chambers also have their stranglehold on ACC. 

He observed that this could be the reason the media has been reporting that the ACC management has simply cut off the board from decision making at the commission.

Dr Kaaba said if the media reports are true, “the ACC is not accountable to its board but to the same corrupt elements looting public resources”. 

In his reaction to Dr Kaaba’s observations, Changala said the fight against corruption has collapsed because it is politically driven in order to settle scores.

“It is not about the law. It is about who they name and shame so that they perpetuate their stay in power. That is why they are creating other unconstitutional courts, including attaching a timeframe to a criminal matter that must end within five months so that those we have taken to court, whether fairly or unfairly, must be convicted. It is a shame and a blackspot on the new dawn administration. The fight against corruption must continue but it must be a genuine fight without any scheming by the politicians but it must be done on evidence based and a genuine balance of the rule of law,” he said. “The issue of the Anti-Corruption Commission is a serious matter. It is a serious matter and yet gratifying that one of the board members has broken ranks and this has been triggered by a statement from State House signed by Clayson Hamasaka that the President is urging all law enforcement agencies to follow up the FIC report and act on it and prosecute whoever is in that report. This annoyed Dr Kaaba, a lecturer at the University of Zambia, but most importantly, a board member at ACC.”

Changala observed that the UPND developed a habit of blaming the PF regime, adding that they get away with it.

“In this FIC report, the transactions and suspicious movement of money is happening under the new dawn administration. But a statement from the State House wants to make it look like these are problems that they inherited. When the UPND came to power, they came to power on the backbone of change. They came to power on the backbone of change. They came to power on the backbone of the restoration of the rule of law. And they are now three years in power. They have made no structural changes to the way the law enforcement agencies are trained, the way they operate, and the way they are managed and the removal of political interference. That has not happened,” Changala noted. “But a tragedy is when they came to power on the 23rd of September, 2021, the gazette notice 1123 was signed, moving these institutions – DEC, ACC and other agencies, the Human Rights Commission to the office of the President. The President is now the man where these organisations report. So he cannot escape the chaotic hangover that is coming from the previous administrations. Having said that, the ACC board, and I challenge the State House on this one. When did the President meet the ACC board from the day it was appointed? When did the President meet the ACC board chairman, Musa Mwenye, from the day he was sworn in? Has the President ever met him? Has the President ever consulted the ACC board?”

Changala said the information that is available is that President Hakainde Hichilema deals with the director general of ACC, Tom Shamakamba, directly.

“There lies the problem. The board is supposed to be an overseer of the DG. But in this one institution, it is the DG that oversees the board. That is very dangerous, and that is deliberate from the executive and this is where Dr Kaaba comes in firing on all cylinders that are being used and abused as a rubberstamp in that they are not fighting corruption in real time,” he said. “If anything, they are meant to fight the corruption of the previous regime, without concentrating on other corruption fights. And this does not sit well. Again, the other challenge, has the President called the chairman of the ACC board to find out what is happening? I don’t think so.”

He suspected that there could be a lot of dirt being swept under the carpet.

Changala added that “it was a matter of time that this explosion at ACC, which is anchored by political persecution, other than the law, was bound to erupt as it has done.”

He said where there is no law there can be no peace.

“These suspicious transactions in the Financial Intelligence Centre report happened between 2023 and this year. So they are a problem of the new dawn administration. And the President is answerable,” said Changala.