By KETRA KALUNGA
That the international community has raised alarm over the current corruption in the UPND administration should be a wake-up call that the fight against graft should be holistic and not selective, Isaac Mwanza has said.
Mr Mwanza, the governance activist has said the counsel offered by the United States government through its ambassador to Zambia Mr Michael Gonzales that government should fight the current corruption should be taken as a matter of urgency.
He said in an interview that there have been serious allegations and revelations about shoddy deals in almost all ministries especially Health and Agriculture and the international community could be sensing that nothing was being done to robustly and fairly fight graft in government institutions.
“Government must take the counsel offered by the United States Government through its ambassador as a wake-up call that the International Community is watching our country’s efforts to meaningfully fight corruption,” Mr Mwanza said.
Mr Mwanza said it would be important for investigative wings to do some self-introspection on their inclusiveness in the fight against corruption because so far, the investigations had only targeted leaders from the previous administration.
He said there was an emerging perception that investigative wings had stopped conducting investigations and were only waiting to pounce on people alleged to have acquired property.
“In fact, the Forfeiture of Proceeds Crime Act has contributed to the emerging trend where its citizens who have to prove that properties are not proceeds of crime instead of those alleging commission of crime,” he said.
Mr Mwanza has urged parliament to quickly begin the process of reforming the law on the Forfeiture of Proceeds Crime to compel investigative wings do their part unlike pouncing on people alleged to have acquired property and put the burden on them to prove that property was properly acquired.
