By Emmanuel Chilekwa
The ACC Section 80 which frees perpetrators of corruption and crime if they surrender their loot and escape jail just promotes more theft, more plunder and must be repealed forth with.
This ACC Section 80 actually promotes looting, corruption and crime and it undermines the very fight against corruption. It does not help the fight against graft, it promotes criminality and corruption.
What would stop a public officer or anyone to engage in graft, corruption or crime and later just surrender even part of the known loot and possibly keep the rest and escapes going to jail?
This piece of law is counter productive. It promotes stealing big time. It encourages looting with no consequences.
This Section says as long as the accused gives full and true disclosure of all material facts relating to past corrupt conduct and an illegal activity by that person or others; and, has voluntarily paid, deposited or refunded all property the person acquired through corruption or illegal activity, you can go scott free.
Using Section 80 of the Anti-Corruption Act No.3 of 2012, the State can enter into an undertaking not to institute criminal proceedings against the accused on condition that you fulfil the requirements of Section 80 of the Anti – Corruption Act No3. Of 2012.
Section 80 of the Act allows the State to grant amnesty to accused persons in certain instances on condition that they admit wrongdoing and return what they wrongfully acquired through corrupt practices.
Practically speaking and if Section 80 can be put to the wall, a person who steals or obtains a chicken corruptly, if caught but surrenders it to the State does not need to be jailed but should be let scot free, more so if he or she volunteers information on how the theft occurred and reveals who else is involved. This them should see prison walls begging for inmates because there would be few going behind bars.
The State believes that its advantageous to use Section 80 in cases of asset recovery because that saves on time by eliminating the prosecution process which can be lengthy, leading to assets losing value or getting damaged, and it also saves on the cost of investigation and prosecution.
According to Section 80 (3) of the Anti-Corruption Act No.3 of 2012, The Anti-Corruption Commission “may tender an undertaking, in writing, not to institute criminal proceedings against a person who has given a full and true disclosure of all material facts relating to past corrupt conduct and an illegal activity by that person or others; and voluntarily paid, deposited or refunded all property the person acquired through corruption or illegal activity.