THE HILUX VS THE BILLIONS: IS THE DEC CHASING SHADOWS WHILE THE HOUSE BURNS?
The Drug Enforcement Commission’s (DEC) decision to summon Archbishop Alick Banda on the eve of an election cycle has been presented in some quarters as evidence that Zambia’s law enforcement agencies are finally embracing “procedural accountability.” Yet to many ordinary citizens struggling under the weight of a collapsing economy, the move appears less like a principled stand for justice and more like a carefully timed distraction.
At the centre of the investigation is a Toyota Hilux, allegedly gifted to the Archbishop during the previous administration. In isolation, the matter is not trivial. The law must apply equally to all, regardless of clerical collar or political standing. However, context matters. And in the context of Zambia’s current economic hemorrhage, the optics are deeply troubling.
Zambia is not suffering from petty corruption; it is bleeding from grand, systemic leakages. The 2024 Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) Trends Report paints a grim picture: an estimated US$3.5 billion, approximately K81 billion, was lost to illicit financial flows in a single year. These losses stem from tax evasion, illegal mining, trade mis-invoicing, and complex corporate schemes that quietly drain the national treasury.
To place this figure in perspective, US$3.5 billion is nearly 42 per cent of the 2025 national budget. It is money that could have stocked hospitals, stabilised the kwacha, rehabilitated roads, and restored public confidence in governance. Against this backdrop, the State’s intense focus on a single vehicle feels painfully disproportionate.
Where are the summons for the directors of multinational firms flagged in FIC reports? Where are the visible investigations into the networks facilitating illegal mineral exports and capital flight? These questions remain unanswered.
The New Dawn administration swept into office on a promise of transparency and zero tolerance for corruption. Yet the years 2024 and 2025 have been punctuated by scandals that strike at the core of human survival.
The ZAMMSA scandal, involving 61 containers of medical supplies, culminated in the withdrawal of US$50 million in U.S. health aid. While a handful of junior and middle-level officials were arrested, the public has yet to see accountability commensurate with the scale of the failure, one that left clinics without essential medicines.
More troubling still was the collapse of trust in the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). In mid-2024, the ACC board was dissolved following allegations by Commissioner O’Brien Kaaba that the institution had been “captured” to shield senior officials. When the hunters are accused of being compromised by the hunted, public faith in anti-corruption efforts inevitably erodes.
It is within this climate that the summoning of a prominent cleric—who has been an outspoken moral critic of governance failures—has been received with scepticism.
As Zambia edges closer to 2026, the political stakes are unmistakably high. Opposition parties, particularly the Patriotic Front (PF), are financially weakened. Meanwhile, the Catholic Church remains one of the few institutions with both moral authority and nationwide infrastructure capable of shaping public opinion.
By shifting the national conversation from “US$3.5 billion lost under the current watch” to “Archbishop questioned over PF-linked assets,” the State effectively rewrites the headlines. This is not merely a legal manoeuvre; it is a narrative one.
The DEC insists its mandate is prevention, not persecution. But prevention must be proportional to harm. Preventing the irregular disposal of a handful of vehicles from a previous era does little to stem the category-five hurricane currently battering the economy.
The critical question confronting the DEC is simple: why does the spotlight so often find those who speak truth to power, while the architects of grand corruption remain in the shadows?
Accountability is noble. Selective accountability is not. When enforcement appears uneven, it risks becoming a tool of intimidation rather than justice.
The questioning of Archbishop Banda may yield hours of interrogation and days of social-media debate. But it will not restock empty hospital shelves. It will not recover billions siphoned through illicit networks. And it will not convince a sceptical public that the fight against corruption is being waged where it truly matters.
Zambians are not blind. They can distinguish between symbolic gestures and systemic reform. If the 5th of January is to be remembered as a day of justice rather than political theatre, the State must demonstrate the same urgency in summoning the architects of the US$3.5 billion illicit flows as it does in summoning a priest over a used truck.
Anything less is not a war on corruption. It is a struggle for political survival, waged at the expense of public trust.
The Struggle Continues
Sensio Banda
Former Member of Parliament
Kasenengwa Constituency
Eastern Province
Mr. Sensio Banda, what exactly are you doing now? Former MP of Kasenangwa Constituency sounds a bit archaic. Give us an update of what you are currently doing.
You can’t hang on to an old title as part of your identity. Better still, drop the former fimo fimo and just go by your name. It doesnot reduce your worth in our eyes.
Ba JMC, are you ok my brother?
The FIC has reported gross theft and corruption under Hakainde’s watch, and all you can do is mock the man Mr. Banda? These people have stolen nearly 4 billion USD in one year alone. Does that not trouble you? The FIC is not affiliated to any political party. They report facts. No single person mentioned in the report has been arrested. Also remember that the TIZ has publicly pointed several high ranking UPND officials as being very corrupt. How did we get to this point where the interest of party or tribe are being put above that of our country. This makes me very sad ba JMC. Hakainde is protecting thieves it seems. Maybe he is part of the syndicate milking our resources for his own benefit, otherwise he would have acted by now.
REJECT TRIBALISM, CORRUPTION AND OPPRESSION.
VOTE FOR CHANGE IN AUGUST.
I am very much in charge of my senses my dear brother, ba Indigo. It is just that I am bothered by our obsession with titles. You have people with honorary doctorate degrees referring to themselves as Dr., “men of God” with titles like Dr. Rev., Apostle so and so, former ambassadors clinging to the ambassador title, calling themselves ambassador so and so.
Sure ba Indigo, the revelations of the FIC report and seeming lack of action must be of grave concern to us all. I hope the relevant authorities are doing their investigations and in due course, we will see some action. Such matters cannot be resolved in a couple of months.
But I donot agree that because we have these “big” issues we must ignore the “small” infractions. If someone breaks the law they must face the consequences. Of course what differs is the nature of the punishment. The more serious the crime the stiffer should be the punishment. But you can’t say let’s ignore the “petty” crimes and just focus on the serious ones. Both have to be dealt with simultaneously.
Please.
And thanks a lot for saying it Mr. JMC.
Mr Sensio is not stupid I believe but by clinging to
his self acclaimed tittle of former MP, oh my God, the
man appears to have gone nuts, hungry and groving
for food and relevance from the public.
And mr sensio banda, Zambia’s economy is not collapsing now.
It is actually growing now. Read, Research or ask and will be taught and told.
Maybe you didnt evn know that it had almost completely collapsed during the
time you were MP under PF. It is now registering positives from negative.
Or maybe I am just mistaken about you thinking you are really not stupid when you
are? The economy is growing sensio banda.