ACC deserves praise but should now walk the talk
WE applaud Monica Mwansa, the acting director-general of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), for announcing that the commission will pursue officials in the New Dawn administration with the same zeal as those in the previous regime.
We say this because stakeholders, such as political leaders, the Church, civil society organisations, and ordinary citizens, have expressed concern about the alleged bias by the ACC, Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) and Zambia Police Service in dealing with corruption and other offences, particularly when those involved are officials from the previous regime and those with divergent views.
This, in our opinion, has tainted the fight against corruption under the New Dawn administration, which is now perceived as biased and targeted at government officials who served in the previous regime.
We recall that Mwansa’s announcement in July of last year that the ACC was investigating a number of prominent people, including cabinet ministers, sparked calls for increased accountability and transparency. But amid these calls to ‘name and shame’, ACC restrained itself from naming those under investigation, which fuelled speculation that President Hakainde Hichilema was shielding them from prosecution.
We also recall that Vice-President Mutale Nalumango has repeatedly stated in Parliament that the Commission would not be disclosing the names of the Ministers under investigation based only on allegations and that they would not be suspended because they are “innocent until proven guilty.”
This has only increased speculation about who the “corrupt” ministers are, while on the other hand, law enforcement agencies have swiftly “named and shamed” opposition figures based on suspicion and allegations.
But in an interview with The Mast, Mwansa trashed allegations that the ACC was only investigating former government officials while ignoring those serving in the current regime despite reports of corruption against them for political reasons.
Mwansa said ACC would not hesitate to pounce on any current government official regardless of their position once they were reported for engaging in corruption.
“One example that easily comes to mind is director general WARMA [Water Resources Management Authority]…You are not seeing the sitting officials because there are people you want to see. You want deliberately to see that one and that one and that one. So, even when we have investigated certain sitting government officials, you have not seen them because they are not the ones you want to see,” she said.
“But, you are deliberately not seeing this as one of the examples because there are some you want to see. So, we are prosecuting both present and past. For the others you want to see, if there is something you see on them, come and give us the details.”
We appreciate Mwansa’s approach to looking into past and present corruption because we believe that the ACC has a duty to investigate everyone who comes into conflict with the law regardless of their political affiliation and without fear or favour.
We hope that Mwansa’s remarks will be more than empty rhetoric and that strong action against current and former government officials will follow.
We are confident that the fight against corruption will resume its proper course without any suspicion of selective application of the law once the ACC fulfils its commitments.
We would like to warn that a breakdown of law and order could result in perceived selective application of the law, which poses a threat to the rule of law. Ultimately, this will compromise the effectiveness of our country’s criminal justice system. Madam acting director-general, we like your tone, but it’s time to act on it!
