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Roundup: Zambian leader urged to move from rhetoric to action in graft fight

Xinhua, November 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

Stakeholders on Tuesday urged Zambian President Edgar Lungu to carry out more actions if his government is to win the fight against corruption.

Reacting to Lungu's lamentations on Monday that he has received reports of his ministers' involvement in corruption and threatened to fire them, the stakeholders said Lungu should be seen to be acting instead of just issuing threats if the fight against corruption is to be a success.

"These are serious issues that the president has raised because he said he has reports of corruption by some of his ministers. Since the president has these reports, I was expecting him to name and fire the ministers concerned," Antonio Mwanza, spokesperson of the opposition Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) said.

He said it is evident that the investigative wings had done their work and investigated the level of corruption by Lungu's ministers and given him the report which he was expected to act on instead of just issuing mere threats.

"He is not being real; we expect the president to act but it seems he is failing to act," he added.

Macdonald Chipenzi, an electoral expert, said Lungu was making the work of investigating agencies inept by not acting on reports they have given him concerning corruption by some of his ministers.

"Why is he delaying in firing them? What he is supposed to do if he has confidence in the ACC (Anti-Corruption Commission) and the reports is to fire the concerned ministers," he said.

The lack of action on reports of corruption by the president was an indication that his government was trivializing the fight against the vice, he said.

David Kapoma, a governance activist said the confession by the president was a sign that there was so much corruption going on in the public service hence the need for him to show more seriousness by acting on the reports.

"Corruption is like cancer because it spreads. If he said it in public, it means that the problem is big. Corruption fight should not just be about giving a handsome statement but he needs to show us some action," he said.

Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) said the announcement by Lungu will remain rhetoric if no action will be taken against the ministers behind corrupt activities.

The organization said in a statement that reports of corruption among government ministers is a source of concern which should be dealt with seriously.

Speaking when he swore-in five ministers, Lungu said corruption was not just at the level of ministers but has permeated other public officials as well.

The Zambian leader, who described the country's anti-corruption watchdog, the ACC, as being inept in fighting corruption, expressed shock at the level of wealth amassed by some people in government over a short period of time. Endit