TONSE ALLIANCE STATEMENT ON POSSIBLE THEFT AND MISAPPROPRIATION OF PROPERTY AND FUNDS FORFEITED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES

TONSE ALLIANCE STATEMENT ON POSSIBLE THEFT AND MISAPPROPRIATION OF PROPERTY AND FUNDS FORFEITED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES

Lusaka, 19th August 2025

1. As TONSE ALLIANCE, we have noted with concern that over the past four years, various law enforcement agencies including the Zambia Police Service, Anti Corruption Commission and Drug Enforcement Commission, have forfeited, from members of the public, property and funds estimated at over K3 billion, with no accountability of how this property and funds have been utilized, if at all.

2. This lack of accountability of property and funds forfeited to the State, raises the possibility that there might be abuse, misappropriation and possible outright theft of such property and funds, by these law enforcement agencies and senior Government officials.

3. In the premises above, we demand, as we hereby do, that Government should immediately account for all the property and funds that have been forfeited to the State in the past four years, by making an immediate publication of a list of all property and funds forfeited to the State, clearly showing the date of forfeiture, the person(s) the forfeiture was made from, the law enforcement agency that made the forfeiture, the value of the forfeited assets at the time of forfeiture as well as the current value.

4. Other reforms related to forfeited assets should include ensuring that such assets are only disposed of through a public auction that is widely publicized and also introducing a clear revenue line in the national budget showing the portion of the national budget that is funded by revenue from the disposal of forfeited assets.

5. As TONSE ALLIANCE, we believe that it is contradictory for Government to claim to be fighting corruption, through forfeiture of assets suspected to be proceeds of crime, when Government itself is failing to properly account for such forfeited assets. Should Government continue to refuse, ignore or neglect to properly account for forfeited assets within a period of 30 days, we reserve the right to drag Government to court, to force them to account.

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Issued by:

Sean E. Tembo (SET)
PeP President & TONSE ALLIANCE Spokesperson
Lusaka, Zambia