By Patson Chilemba
The fact that ruling PF officials are admitting that party members use the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to settle political scores shows how rotten PF has become, says party member Colonel Panji Kaunda.
Speaking with Daily Revelation on the attacks on the ACC by PF Lusaka Province secretary Kennedy Kamba that the commission must be disbanded for being used by party members to settle political scores against each other, and by the opposition to settle scores against ruling party members, Col Panji said if the commission had a problem, then it was emanating from the PF as a party, who had not given it the autonomy to operate independently.
He said the ACC had the right to investigate cases that were brought before them, be it from the ruling or opposition members as long as there were elements worth investigating in the matters brought before them. Col Panji said in the UNIP days there used to be what was called as the leadership code to put a curb on public officials so that they refrained from stealing while in public office.
“It shows how rotten we have become as a party that we are using the ACC to settle scores. It seems that if we agree with what Kamba is saying, we will be doing exactly what MMD did when they destroyed the apparatus such as leadership code and CITAD,” Col Panji said. “It doesn’t mean that every case taken to ACC must end up in conviction. The ACC is mandated to investigate corruption.”
Col Panji said PF leaders must not fear being investigated by ACC and other investigate wings, saying they were actually going against their own manifesto with their attacks, as they were supposed to be in the forefront strengthening and encouraging investigate wings.
“We as a party should give backing to the ACC. We must encourage them if necessary to even investigate the President. As far as I am concerned ACC should investigate as long as citizens take cases to them. If we are fighting for positions in the party and taking matters to ACC, it is us to stop that and not the ACC,” he said.
Speaking with Daily Revelation, ruling PF Lusaka provincial secretary Kennedy Kamba said the ACC must be disbanded because it has failed to serve the wider interests of the Zambian people, as it has allowed itself to be used by politicians to fight their political battles. He said politicians in the ruling party were using the ACC to fight their own enemies, while those in the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) were also using the Commission to fight members of the ruling party.
“I don’t want to mince my words, they should be disbanded because it (ACC) has been turned like a tool which is being used by politicians to fight political opponents. It is happening in the opposition and it is happening in the ruling party,” Kamba said “This is why I believe and I will continue saying that this ACC must be disbanded because it is not acting on its own, it’s being used as a tool to fight or to bring down other political enemies against each other, be it opposition or the ruling party.”
And Col Panji said information minister Dora Siliya should stop encouraging murder for saying that police should shoot to kill, saying there was nothing in the police training manual that said they must shoot to kill people. He said the only time a police officer could use a firearm was when their life was in danger, and that even then they should only shoot to maim and not to kill.
“Dora Siliya is advocating for murder. You can’t kill someone. It is definitely wring. In most countries police officers don’t even have guns,” said Col Panji. -Daily Revelations