MANY PF OFFICIALS ARE IN COURT FOR BEING IN POSSESSION OF PROPERTIES SUSPECTED TO BE PROCEEDS OF CRIME AND SOME FOR CORRUPTION ; THEY CANNOT TELL US ANYTHING ABOUT CORRUPTION TODAY .
By Mark Simuuwe
It is shocking to hear Emmanuel Mwamba and Patriotic Front ( PF ) members spearheading a crusade against corruption when many of them have forfeited properties and are still forfeiting to the state suspected to have been acquired corruptly .
Emmanuel Mwamba himself knows that most of friends in PF are appearing in court for allegedly being in possession of properties suspected to be proceeds of crime .
It is important for citizens to get the context that infact , the decision by President Hakainde Hichilema to dissolve the Ant-corruption Commission board is a clear demonstration of the UPND’s unwavering commitment to fight corruption . Such decisions never used to happen under Edgar Lungu’s corrupt government.
As my President Hakainde Hichilema once said when he addressed the National Assembly that ,” we shall fight corruption in the past , Present and in the future .” end of quote .
UPND New Dawn Administration will ensure all those found wanting meet the wrath of the law .
This is one feature which was lacking under the PF and Emmanuel MWAMBA’ and friends’ corrupt leadership .
During Emmanuel Mwamba and Edgar Lungu’s administration, they glorified corruption when Edgar Lungu was quoted by the media that , “ you can eat but tabalila kumo nembuto “, ( you can steal but you do not eat the seed itself ) . This statement basically glorifies corruption.
The other statement commonly used by the PF was ,” ubomba mwibala alya Mwibala “. All these quotes go to demonstrate how inherent and deep rooted corruption was in the PF and its administration .
We are coming from an administration under the PF in which the United Kingdom ( UK) had to demand that social cash transfer be refunded because the PF then lost the account where money was .
Another incident is when the European Union(EU) stopped financing Zambia’s budget due to Edgar Lungu ‘s corrupt government. But the EU have resumed financing Zambia’s budget and this is what the likes of Emmanuel Mwamba is jealous of .
We are coming from the PF administration in which they were paying 3000 ghost workers or non existent civil servants .
Coming to Dr O’Brien Kaaba’s statement which Emmanuel Mwamba referred to ; this statement is actually timely with the increase in freedom of expression in the country.
To the contrary , under the PF , they arrested whistleblowers . We can cite so many examples of whistleblowers who were arrested under the PF . Some had to flee the country .
One clear example is that of Pilato ; Pilato did a song in which he dramatized the high corruption under Emmanuel Mwamba and Edgar Lungu’s administration but what did we see ?
Pilato had to run for his life and went into exile .
It is also important to address the current revelations under the Financial Intelligence Report that unlike under the PF where Edgar Lungu publicly denounced FIC boss , Ms Mary Chirwa , and the entire PF called for her dismissal from the FIC after she published the stinky corruption under the PF, President allowed for the publication of the document and further took a role in ensuring necessary measures are taken to deal with perpetrators .
This is huge difference and sanity that President Hichilema has brought . Our President did not mind whether the report would affect even those appointed by him .
This is the promise he made to the country that he will ensure even those he appoints are probed and dealt with once found wanting .
Zambians may recall that our President once said “those who break the law are on their own .”
Additionally, Edgar Lungu and the PF themselves once told us how corrupt their ministers were and this was carried by the press .
We wish to again assure citizens that , as President Hichilema has indicated , law enforcement agencies must expeditiously deal with all those mentioned in the FIC report and we do not want to hear the PF cry of persecution because the FIC reports contains also the corruption which the PF hid in 2014, 2015, and 2016 up to the UPND administration.
The FIC also contains current leads which shall be followed up to the latter .
President Hichilema must be commended for his determination and consistency in ensuring that Zambia’s record on the fight against corruption remains a model .
We also want to thank President Hakainde for ensuring that the Economic and Financial Crimes court , which is a fast – track court is established ; this will help us quickly deal with the past, present and future financial crimes .
We thank all those in the UPND government who have worked so hard to make Zambia’s corruption perceptions index improve by 4 points in less than 2 years of being in leadership.
We have confidence that the next men and women who will constitute the new board will learn a lesson from the staunch decision that the President has taken on corruption.
We call upon Zambians to rally behind President Hichilema in his quest to protect public resources. We have so far recovered over 53.6 million from the corrupt PF administration and we know they are stil at pain . We want to assure citizens that more will be recovered from those Ukwa bags externalized .
Even those making the loudest r noise in PF are under probe and citizens will soon see for themselves.
This Simuuwe school composition is now stale. He points his finger at his subjects while the three fingers point back at his government!!!
Well articulated Mr Simuwe. In fact, my hope is to find ways and means to do away with these court appealings when you’re found guilty. Where is Mbwili for example. He was the most feared fellow at one moment much more feared compared to Donald Trump but where is he now because of these court appealings.