By Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba
I have been attracted by yet another of her Headlines; “Milingo Lungu re-arrest professionally done”,says Mary Chirwa.
Why does she discuss her cases in public? Why does she wantonly play to the gallery? Her arguments and evidence must be submitted to courts of law and not to the court of public opinion.
Why issue prejudicial statements on matters that are in court.
Prosecute your facts and evidence in court!
And I thought she is now the Head of the Drug Enforcement Commission?
She presents herself as Head of Financial Intelligence Centre(FIC) or as Head of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Even when she was at FIC, she presented herself like she was running the DEC Anti-Money Laundering Unit or the ACC..
Now that she is actually at Drug Enforcement Commission, her role appears more confused.
She is the Head of the DEC, she may need to familiarize herself with her new role..the overlapping of roles, the unguided excitement, and the stretching of her mandate must be watched by her supervisors.
The illicit drug scourge is on the rapid increase, the abuse of drugs by youths is at epidermic levels and DEC appears to have abandoned its statutory role.
DEC’s core and statutory mandate is to fight Drug proliferation, trafficking and enforcement.
DEC is a specialised law enforcement agency with a mandate to prevent and control illegal cultivation, production, trafficking and abuse of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and money laundering activities.
DEC’s primary role seems to have been lost even by the President.
On swearing Mary Chirwa, President Hichilema called on her to fight corruption cases without relenting. He urged all stakeholders to support her and her new role.
Offcourse the DEC has another appendage role- the Anti-Money Laundering Unit.
This unit is now overshadowing the primary role of the DEC.
Infact there have been plans to make it a specialized and independent wing of Law Enforcement Agency so that the DEC can focus and attend to our biggest driver of crimes, illicit drugs.
We have an illicit drug problem in Zambia and it is negatively affecting our youths.
Yet those mandated to fight the scourge are busy, excited about fighting former leaders to please the new leaders.