By Mubanga Mubanga
A consortium of 11 civil society organisations has petitioned the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Gilbert Phiri over the decision to allow former Foreign Affairs permanent secretary Simwinga to surrender only K23 million out of K60 million “unexplained” funds in his bank account.
In a letter dated July 21, 2025, issued by consortium deputy chairperson Solomon Ngoma and addressed to Phiri, the organisations argued that the prosecutorial arrangement was troubling morally and ethically.
“On behalf of a consortium of eleven Civil Society Organisations working on governance and the rule of law, I write to express our deep concern regarding revelations, as reported in the Daily Revelation Newspaper, made by former Director General of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Mr Thom Shamakamba. These revelations relate to the handling of a case involving Dr. Ronald Simwinga (former Foreign Affairs permanent secretary),” Ngoma stated. “According to Mr Shamakamba, Dr Simwinga was allowed to forfeit K23 million out of the estimated K60 million in suspected proceeds of crime. This implies that the suspect was permitted to retain over K37 million despite being of questionable origin in exchange for his cooperation and accused person.
“This form of prosecutorial arrangement is deeply troubling both legally and ethically, that the state would allow a suspect to retain the majority of suspected criminal proceeds as a condition for testifying against another individual raises serious questions about the integrity and fairness of our justice system.”
Ngoma stated that the practice undermined public confidence in the fight against corruption, which also suggested that justice was only for those with influence.
“You recall that when his Excellency President Hakainde Hichilema launched the revised National Anti-Corruption policy 2024, he equivocally denounced the practice of allowing suspects to ‘buy their freedom,'” Ngoma stated. “He called on all investigative and prosecutorial agencies to pursue full prosecution of corruption offenders and to ensure that all ill-gotten wealth is fully recovered- not partially exchanged for testimony or settlement done in secrecy.”
He stated that this also reflected double standards where influential or wealthy individuals were given leniency while the ordinary Zambians were imprisoned for minor offences such stealing chickens or possessing property less than one million Kwacha.
