It’s a blatant lie to say K65 million was misappropriated – ACC Board chair
THE Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) has questioned the legitimacy of a letter which is circulating purporting that the Commission misappropriated funds which it obtained from Faith Musonda.
ACC Board chairperson Musa Mwenye said the purported leaked letter was meant to deliberately embarrass the law enforcement agency.
Todays’s News Diggers edition has reported that K65 million was missing from the forfeited funds.
However, Mwenye said the graft watchdog did not receive any letter from the Auditor General, stating that the funds were missing.
He said the funds were handed over to the Ministry of Finance which was reportedly used by the Ministry of Education for loans for government-sponsored students at public-owned universities.
“We don’t have the money. I’ve never seen K65 million in my life!” Mwenye said
He refused to speak to the said leaked letter.
“Please, bear with us; we (ACC) will not address the document that is circulating on social media but suffice to say that it contains a lot of inaccuracies and details that appear tailored to deliberately embarrass the institution,” Mwenye said.
“For example, at page 61 of the purported management letter, there is an allegation that K65 million forfeited from Ms Faith Musonda was misappropriated. This is a blatant falsehood!”
He further said on February 23 last year, the ACC handed over a cheque for K65,333,046 to Minister of Finance and National Planning Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane.
“The money moved from the Anti-Corruption Commission account at Bank of Zambia to the Ministry of Finance on 3rd of March 2022. It is therefore not true that this money was misappropriated,” Mwenye clarified.
Mwenye added that the media ought to verify information before they publish, stating that no attempt was made to verify with the ACC, Bank of Zambia or the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, any of the information contained in the letter.
“I wish to reiterate that the Anti-Corruption Commission, like any other government institution, is open to accountability and warranted criticism but such criticism must be based on facts and not innuendos,” sais Mwenya.
By Moses Makwaya
Kalemba