‘Where are forfeited properties, money?’ – Tembo

‘Where are forfeited properties, money?’

By Tony Nkhoma

THE opposition Tonse Alliance has challenged law enforcement agencies (LEA) to tell the nation what they have done with forfeited property and money worth K3 billion.

The alliance’s spokesperson Sean Tembo questioned how the law enforcement agencies could be trusted in the fight against corruption when they could not account for the K3 billion from seized properties and cash.
In a statement seen by The Mast, Tembo said it was deeply worrying that over four years, the Zambia Police Service , Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) had shown no commitment to accounting for the K3 billion.

“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 utilised,” Tembo said.

He said the lack of accountability of the property and funds forfeited to the State raised the possibility of abuse.
Tembo said the inaction pointed to misappropriation and possible outright theft of such property and funds by the law enforcement agencies and senior government officials.

“In the premises above, we demand, as we hereby do, that the government should immediately account for all the property and funds that have been forfeited to the State in the past four years,” Tembo said.
He said government should make an immediate publication of a list of all property and funds forfeited to the State.

“This should clearly show 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,” Tembo said.

He said other reforms related to forfeited assets should include ensuring that such assets were only disposed of through a widely publicised public auction.

“This should be done by 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,” Tembo said.

He said it was contradictory for the government to claim to be fighting corruption through forfeiture of assets suspected to be proceeds of crime when it was failing to properly account for such forfeited assets.
Tembo warned the government that it risked being dragged to court for refusal and ignoring to properly account for the K3 billion.

“He warned should it continue to refuse, ignore or neglect to properly account for forfeited assets within a period of 30 days, Tonse Alliance reserved the right to take it to court to force it to account for the assets and the money.