There is no one who makes money by being an ACC Commissioner. The sitting allowance during our time was K1,500 – Dr. O’Brian Kaaba

15

A COMMENT ON THE NEW ACC LEADERSHIP

Dr. O’Brian Kaaba Wrote;

I would like to first pay tribute to our former ACC Board chairperson, Mr Musa Mwenye SC. It was a great honour to serve with him. He demonstrated great patriotism, fearlessness, rare commitment to the fight against corruption and strong sense of autonomy. 



Under his leadership, we brought great stability to the institution and enhanced its credibility. His passion for the job was palpable and unapparelled.

I also served with dedicated colleagues, Mrs Irene Lamba, Pastor Tommy Namitondo and Dr Mbushi. We were resolved to fighting both past and present corruption. Each one of them can confirm that despite hitting a brick wall, we were dedicated to fighting corruption and to protecting no one.



Coming to the new appointments, the only person I know personally is Nalucha. She has the courage and capacity to stick out her head for her strong beliefs in good governance and she has an excellent record in the good governance sector. For others, I only know them through the press or their publicly available records.



I could perhaps in passing comment on the new chairperson picking, Judge Evans Hamaundu. I have not had any personal interaction with him so I do not know him at an individual level. Those who know him say, at personal level, he is a man of admirable integrity.



That is a good attribute to bring to the Commission. My knowledge of him is through reading his judgments and I think there are two troubling judgments in the area of public interest.
1. The first is his judgment refusing to register the London High Court judgment which found that former President Fredrick Chiluba and his colleagues had defrauded the Zambian government of more than US$40million. You may recall that Professor Muna Ndulo had written a brilliant and well researched amicus brief supporting the registration of the judgment which was treated with contempt. Against clear statutory law, established precedents and common sense, the Judge declined the application and the judgment was never registered.



2. The Second one is his decision, in the case brought by LAZ, challenging the constitutionality of some provisions in the Public Order Act. The judge and (and the bench he sat with) did not see anything wrong with those provisions. Both cases are an extreme example of state-centric adjudication and judged from that, he has an uphill challenge to convince the citizens that his approach at the helm of the ACC will be different.


This is important because ACC primarily targets high level corruption often committed by the powerful and those in government. The President has consistently indicated that no corrupt official in his government should be protected from investigation and prosecution. It is the role of the ACC to actualize that.
Overall, I admire their collective courage to accept to serve on the ACC board.

It is a thankless task. Contrary to popular views, there is no one who makes money by being an ACC Commissioner. At least not during our time. The sitting allowance during our time was K1,500.



Right from the beginning when we were appointed, our team resolved that we were not going to ask for any adjustment to our conditions of service as we simply wanted to provide a dedicated public service, and we stuck to that.

The new appointees must be prepared to be scrutinized and insulted for nothing in return. During my term there, for example, Sishuwa Sishuwa wrote about three articles claiming that government had bought us into silence. It is such a petty and uninformed view because within the ACC we were working tirelessly to do the right thing.



The more we pushed hard the more we endangered our lives and created enemies both in the past regime and new officials in government. I believe the new colleagues will face similar challenges, unless they choose to let sleeping dogs lie.



It is relatively easy to fight past corruption as former government officials are a lame duck since they no longer wield any power. The real test of their commitment, as our former chairperson Musa Mwenye SC has repeatedly stated, is if they will have the courage to take head on the current corruption.



The President has repeatedly said that he is committed to letting no one in his government escape accountability. It is the mandate of the new colleagues to actualize that and ensure no one is spared.

15 COMMENTS

  1. Let’s see what they have to offer.
    Given the idea of the small token, it puts commissioners in a vulnerable situation to the powerful looters who can easily give a tiny portion of their loot to be let go.
    Something must be done about it.

    • Take a look at our friends. We can only admire them from afar. If only we could borrow them for just 2 years to come fix the mess we have been put in.

      https://zambianobserver.com/two-years-of-president-ibrahim-traore/#comments

      Other African presidents, bar the few in West Africa and Rwanda, can no longer make excuses. Their days are numbered, and their corruption, tribalism and utter incompetence can no longer be tolerated.

      Let us recognise and encourage this young man, and others, that are changing Africa for the better. Let us remove the dinosaurs that are obsessed with sending dirty money to Panama.

      Vote wisely in 2026.

  2. We know too well this guy hasn’t been appointed as a corruption shield but as a fireman. The president himself is corrupt to the core he needs people like this judge to be putting off corruption inferno that him and his minions in parliament and cabinet are causing.

    • Just imagine how they quietly dismissed the KKIA gold scandal.

      These people are corrupt to the core.

      While Captain Ibrahim Traore has taken control of all their mines, our country keeps giving them away to their LGBT masters. No wonder some have plainly refused to declare their assets because they will become multi billionaires after their ka one term in office.

      Vote wisely in 2026.

  3. Ba Kasongo, integrity has nothing to do with renumeration. Even with K500 allowance, a person of true ethical values would discharge his duties in an exemplary manner.

    The Bible says, “He who is dishonest with little will also be dishonest with much”. It is in the small things that our integrity shines out. If one is corrupt it does not matter how much they are paid. They will continue to be corrupt.

    Under PF, some people amassed a lot of unexplained wealth. They never stopped because they had stolen enough. It is about “Pompwe mushibila insala” (they don’t steal to satisfy their hunger).

    If the new board comprises people of integrity, the result will show.

  4. No one should expect to be an ACC commissioner to get rich. That said the 1500zmw sitting allowance is ridiculous. It shows a lack of seriousness in fighting corruption. It ought to be 1500usd, kwacha equivalent per sitting. The colleagues are supposed to fight grand corruption. Come on, let’s be serious

    • They all know the conditions of service when they get appointed. If they are driven by huge remuneration, they can politely decline the appointment. The entire outgoing board was dismissed because of corruption, but only when it become public knowledge that they were all corrupt, so the appointing authority had no choice but to fire them. He only ever acts when the skeletons are in the public.

      Remember that he took ACC to community house so that he could supervise them directly. What does that say about him and his integrity? Remember also that the ACC was, and is still headed by his relatives. Remember again that he has refused to declare his assets, including the money stashed away in Panama. Did he even pay tax on that dirty money? Remember that the FIC report has indicated enormous outflow of money to foreign bank accounts.

      Vote wisely in 2026.

  5. Evans Hamaundu’s weakness is cowardice. Muna Ndulo’s amicus brief on why the High Court of Zambia should have registered the London judgement against Chiluba and his co-conspirators was purely due to cowardice and not law. During his time as Kitwe High Court, Hamaundu registered a judgement passed in Namibia in Zambia and it was later enforced. His refusal to accept Muna Ndulo’s amicus brief was because if he had accepted it, he would have had no legal basis to go against its arguments. On this basis, I doubt Hamaundu’s suitability to be board chair of the Anti-Corruption Commission. An amicus brief can be dismissed after being allowed to be filed into court by advancing sound legal arguments against it.

  6. 1500 sitting allowance. That’s for each time they meet. If they decide to meet each week (as is common for boards) that’s 6000. Additionally, they have allowances for fuel for each meeting attended in the range of k500. That goes up to k8000. And they get other allowances for food etc. Monthly comes to about k10,000. I know this because Musa Mwenya SC revealed this on The Conversation Podcast after the dissolution of the board.
    Now with that being said, this role is never about money but I do feel like the previous board was better placed to fight corruption. Their replacements shouldn’t have been individuals who appear lesser qualified.

  7. Yah good observation but the onus is on the captain himself. Currently in this case there’s an overwhelming political will to fight corruption so those fears may not arise. We expect Hamaundu to bite. The politcal will will encourage him to move forward. It’s only KK, Mwanawasa and our current HH who were serious about corruption. Under Edgar fighting corruption never existed except by name or on paper. So let’s support Hamaundu’ s team and maybe judge him later. A lot of good has been said about this Man so let’s give him a chance. Personally I have a strong feeling he will perform.

  8. It is also true to say that there was a reason why the President dissolved the Board. One of the things we observed is that the former Chairman constantly attacked the authorities by talking of the need to declare assets including for the President to declare his assets when there was already laws providing for that. Was that part of the mandate of the ACC Board? Was that kind of behaviour not exceeding jurisdiction or lawlessness? Who would want to dissolve a hard working Board if it is helping the President and Government fight corruption within its mandate and established procedures not where there is anarchy of the Commissioners washing dirt linen in public?

    • Publicly declare. That’s important. What’s the sense in declaring your public to ECZ and ECZ keeps that information private? You are the same ones who wanted to know what ECL stole but you are constraining your brain cells and don’t want HH’s assets to be publicly available. This is why they are selling assets without parliamentary approval to companies established within 6months. If you mean well for the country, you will support public declaration of assets irrespective of your party of choice.

  9. Uncle Spider, the law was amended by your ECL after he was caught with assets of over K25 million after serving only one year as President. So, it was not HH but your ECL who amended the law.

    • Don’t say my ECL. As hard as you may find it, I did vote for HH. Again, it’s about principle. There is absolutely nothing wrong with demanding a president should publicly declare his assets. If anything, it shows you we had a board that was courageous and went out of its way but recommending amendments to laws.
      The next time you engage me sir, I would very much like if you would look at my submissions and please don’t label me as a supporter of ECL, it rather shows your failure as a mentally competent person to debate issues without bringing in an individual, which individual, I must add, I never supported.

    • Additionally, since the Access to Information Act was passed, there have been several attempts to access the declarations made in 2021 but the ECZ continues to keep a lock and key. So much for transparency. Enacting a law and not allowing it to have life. Ask yourself why that is. Be independent and think about some of these things.

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