THE REAL FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION SHOULD START WITH HICHILEMA AND HIS LEAGUE
As the US Department of State 2022 Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Zambia correctly observes, there are very, very serious issues of corruption and lack of transparency in this UPND government of Mr Hakainde Hichilema.
And it will not be possible for Mr Hichilema to achieve, or aspire for, high levels of transparency in his government’s dealings because of his many undisclosed or undeclared business interests. This is a recipe for grand corruption.
We saw how Mr Hichilema failed to come out clear and clean on the obviously questionable Alpha Commodities fertiliser deal in which Zambians lost almost US$16 million in super profits due to over pricing in a single-sourced contract authorised by Mr Hichilema.
Today, there are legitimate questions being asked about who the supplier of materials is for making fertilisers to Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia, a state-owned enterprise. Again, due to a lack of transparency and disclosure or declaration of his business interests and those of his associates, fingers are pointing in his direction.
A very high degree of disclosure of business interests and transparency is required from Mr Hichilema and his associates. Combining such very high levels political power with a huge appetite to become the richest Zambian will lead to a series of very serious corruption problems for Mr Hichilema.
While Mr Hichilema’s control of Zambia’s fiscal policy is without limit, his business interests also seem to be without limit. And herein lies the conflict of interest. This conflict is a recipe for corruption.
And with Mr Hichilema so conflicted there cannot be a meaningful fight against corruption in this country under his leadership. What we are seeing is not a genuine fight against corruption but vengeance and an attempt to financially cripple his political opponents and those who in the past have tormented him.
A serious fight against corruption should start with Mr Hichilema himself and his league. What we are witnessing is nothing but a mock engagement, a deception.
Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party