New ACC leadership must fulfil sacred call

By Daily Revelation Editor

The Community Action Against Corruption (CAAC) says it has no confidence in the newly appointed Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) board and leadership, as they will help perpetuate the current system of biased and politically inclined corruption fight.

President Hakainde Hichilema last week appointed a new board, led by retired Supreme Court Judge Evans Hamaundu, with Daphne Chabu as director general.

These appointments have predictably been received with skepticism by some, while others have celebrated the announcement. Those who hold differing positions on these appointments are welcome to hold their views, which of course must be respected by the others.

We also have our own views about the character of some of the people who have been appointed, including the open partisanship expressed by some. The same raises questions on whether some avowed UPND members can really pursue a meaningful corruption fight against some of their own members, who have soiled their hands, both in the party and government. We shall closely watch how they proceed, just as others are encouraged to.

Of course, those who have been appointed have not yet been ratified by parliament, but that is a formality, especially that the ruling party has the numbers in the house already. Who can actually dare go against the President’s wishes among the ruling party members of parliament, anyway? We can safely say that these appointments will pass through.

Therefore, the only thing that should matter about these appointments is whether these officials will rise up to the sacred national call to fight corruption with integrity and vigor, in the real sense of fighting the vice. And that means fighting all corruption; past, present and future, as claimed by Hichilema. Zambians do not wish to see a repeat of the same assertions which brought about arguments between the previous Musa Mwenye led board and the Thom Shamakamba led management, where the latter was accused of growing cold feet when it came to investigating and prosecuting the corruption involving senior government officials.

We shall support the new ACC leadership if they will live up to fighting corruption wholesomely. We want to see the corruption that was committed during the PF administration being fought with vigor, just as much as we want to see the corruption committed under the UPND with vigor.

As the new leadership will quickly settle into office, we urge them to work speedily on moving on all the corruption the ACC said they were investigating, involving ministers and other senior government officials. Zambians deserve to know how far those investigations, if any, against those anonymous officials have gone.

It surely can’t be that all the investigations against these senior officials could come to a standstill at the same time, without any movement on any single one of them.

Therefore, the new ACC leadership must take these appointments as a sacred call by God, on behalf of the Zambian people, to rid this nation of corruption, as opposed to mistaking the same as a favour bequeathed on them by the President to serve his and his associates bidding.