By Staff Reporter
Colonel Panji Kaunda says UPND deputy national youth chairperson Steven Chikota is a corrupt person if he fails to report the corrupt ministers to the investigative wings.
And Colonel Panji said unemployment of any type is a time bomb, and it is therefore important that the government should put in place measures, not only for the youths but the general citizenry, however, cautioning that some plans take time to show fruits.
Speaking with Daily Revelation on the video where Chikota castigated the police officers to their faces that they were protecting foreign miners because they had been paid money, and also that he had a list of corrupt ministers who had received bribes from the foreigners to mine the minerals they were not licensed for, while denying the indigenous Zambians, Col Panji echoed Southern Province minister Cornelius Mweetwa’s sentiments that Chikota must report the matter to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), as failure to do so would be tantamount to abetting corruption.
“You and I worked on the Chimtengo issue (the gazetted national forest which former president Edgar Lungu’s daughter Tasila fenced). We went to the Ministry concerned and when we couldn’t get answers we went to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). And we saw how the matter was handled,” Col Panji said, adding that despite the fact that the fence was pulled down, he was yet to receive answers on the criminality that was committed for erecting it, and had also not received answers from the investigating wings on where the money to fence it came from.
He said he did not just sing about the matter in the media, saying in the same manner, Chikota must not just raise issues about the alleged corruption but must follow through by reporting them to the investigative wings.
“If you have evidence and you don’t report, you are also corrupt,” Col Panji said.
He called for a shift in the manner the investigations were conducted, saying they should not just focus on the person receiving the bribe, but also the person giving the bribe.
And Col Panji said there were a lot of expectations from the youths for the new administration to deliver, after they came out in numbers to vote, which he said was the right thing, but that it takes time to make plans and turn them into fruition.
He said he was hopeful that a lot more will be done in several subsequent national budgets, but that even with the expanded Constituency Development Fund (CDF), which has been raised from K1.6 million to K25.7 million some room could still be found for the youths.
Col Panji said what was needed was to organize youths into groups so that when issuing contracts they can be taken on board, saying they could be contracted to work on programmes such as feeder roads and schools for instance.
He said he was aware that the local leadership in various localities were being trained on the CDF, on how to give out loans to local people among other issues, saying youths must not just sit back and relax.
In the video, Chikota said he had a list of criminal ministers who had received bribes from foreigners to mine the minerals they were not licensed for.
“I’m not going to allow you mulelokwa nemfula mukuchita protect ama foreigners just because you are getting peanuts. Can we fail to give you peanuts if you allow us to steal? Why are you protecting a foreigner who is stealing in our own country? Zambia will not be the same,” Chikota told the police, in the presence of the other party cadres. “…Heads will roll on…it’s either I lose my appointment or you lose your job by protecting criminals. Because some of the ministers whom because they are serving, because of these people (pointing to party members) they have bribed their way to bribe you. Some of the ministers may be saved but I can tell you we have a list of those criminal ministers of which we are not going to allow as a party.”
More @ www.dailyrevelationzambia.com
