You can’t fight graft with nice words, DEC told
By Tony Nkhoma
IN ITS current form the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) has lost its critical position in the fight against corruption, the Community Action Against Corruption (CAAC) has said.
CAAC chief executive officer Brightone Tembo said not only had DEC lost its relevance in the fight against but was also far from understanding its realities.
“CAAC notes with concern a media statement attributed to DEC Director General Nason Banda that the aim of DEC is not to fill up correctional facilities is a clear indication that DEC, by intention or unintentional, has lost its position in the corruption fight and the institution is far from understanding the realities of the corruption fight,” Tembo said.
In an interview with The Mast at the weekend he said Banda’s statement matched the weaknesses observed in the fight against corruption today.
Tembo said the statement also explained why corruption in Zambia had risen to the current pathetic levels.
“Mr Banda should not confuse the corruption fight with the counselling services DEC provides to drug addicts, whom they do not send to prison. Mr Banda should understand the fact that corruption is a brutal and barbaric act which should not be welcomed with roses. It needs a brutal approach in order to fight it,” he said.
Tembo said DEC had assumed the responsibility of sending solidarity messages to high-profile corrupt people.
“That’s why in countries where the pain and evil of corruption is well understood by governments, death sentences and long jail terms are prescribed on corrupt people by the courts,” he said.
Tembo challenged Banda to give an example of a country in the world which managed to fight corruption by forfeiture of assets alone.
“The statement by Mr Banda lacks any degree of seriousness and the statement is tantamount to insinuating that we can fight corruption by counselling criminals instead of sending them to prison for punishment and rehabilitation,” Tembo said.
Tembo said Banda’s statement looked like an indirect assurance to high-profile plunderers and looters of State resources that prison was not their destination.
