Transparency International Zambia Anti-Corruption day speech on the Break the Corruption Chain Delivered by Mr. Lee M. Habasonda, Chapter President 9th December, 2014 Lusaka, Zambia Protocol • The Acting President of the Republic of Zambia • Cabinet and Deputy Ministers Present • Senior Government Officials • The United Nations representative to Zambia • Members of the Diplomatic Corp • The Chairperson Anti-Corruption Commission, Commissioners and Director General • All Heads and Board members from Civil Society Organizations and the Private Sector • May I recognize the presence of all special distinguished guests who are in attendance. • Ladies and gentlemen and our colleagues from the media fraternity 1.0 Introduction Transparency International Zambia is glad to be part of this year’s commemoration of the International Anti-Corruption day. Your presence here shows that you all attach as much importance as we do to the fight against corruption, and to the role of good governance in ensuring inclusive development. Indeed this day we believe gives us a chance to take note of our successes, failures and opportunities in the fight against corruption with an opportunity to rethink our strategies and asses all our annual efforts in the fight against corruption. As TIZ we are extremely proud that this year’s theme reminds us that we need to “Break the Corruption Chain”. We believe that the theme is very appropriate and timely because it speaks to our inner selves and reminds us that Corruption undermines democratic institutions, slows economic development and contributes to governmental instability. And not only does it undermine democracy, but it also breaks the foundation of democratic institutions by distorting electoral processes, perverting the rule of law and creating bureaucratic quagmires hat lead the solicitation of bribes. Hence if we do not break the corruption chain, economic development will remain stunted because foreign direct investment will be discouraged and small businesses within the country will eventually find it impossible to overcome the start-up costs required because of corruption Your Excellency, distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen Corruption is a crime against development. It is a condemnation of the values of a decent society. Therefore today must be is an opportunity to promulgate the damage it does, and to reaffirm our commitment to act against it. The worst consequences of corruption are borne by poor and vulnerable groups in our society. Bribes, for example, can make basic services available only to those able to pay. As the poor are more reliant on public services, they are disproportionately harmed by what may be, in financial terms, small-time corruption. Research suggests that poor women and children are often the worst affected by corruption. The poor also have the most to lose from rapid degradation of natural resources stemming from corruption which enables laws and regulations to be circumvented. For example if we continue to turn a blind eye to the illegal logging of the Mukula tree in Zambia, we shall be threatening the ecosystems on which poor people depend for their livelihoods, and lead to revenue losses for governments too. Your Excellency, distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen Allow me at this juncture to commend the Anti Corruption commission (ACC) for the good work they have exhibited throughout the year. Notably, this year we saw a number of dismissals, arrests and convictions of senior government officials with cases all bordering on public sector corruption. Investigating serving officials’ helps create a positive impression that there is no one above the law and there is no selective application of the law. We believe this sends a good signal in the fight against corruption when even serving Ministers can be brought before the law and made to account for their actions. We therefore urge you to continue bringing to book all those found wanting regardless of their status and to speed up investigations so that you can continue to gain public confidence as well as contribute effectively to breaking the corruption chain in our society. We further appeal to members of the public and in particular civil servants to continue reporting any form of suspicious transactions in the civil service that may appear like corruption. Your Excellency, distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen In another vein, While TIZ commends the Auditor General’s Office for the good work done, we are worried that the continued lack of accountability of public funds is not showing any signs of major improvements. The Auditor General’s report has demonstrated that there are various ways in which Zambia has continued losing public funds. TIZ has analyzed the 14 areas in which public funds were lost and we bemoan the non accountability of such colossal sums of public funds. TIZ has noted that in the 14 areas, only insignificant reductions were recorded in 8 areas compared to increases in 6 areas that worsened. As TIZ, we want to categorically state that we fully support the stance taken by the Auditor General to ensure that all those that are cited in any potential irregularities, potential abuse, thefts, corruption and misappropriation of funds are exposed and handed over to law enforcement agencies for possible prosecution. We urge the government to safe guard public resources in every way possible. What worries us most is that the culprits for the loss of these funds are known, but the law does not seem to catch up with them. We recommend that all controlling officers who are not providing the requisite oversight over public resources be dismissed in public interest as such a situation cannot be allowed to continue year in year out. Your Excellency, distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen As TIZ, we believe transparency and accountability are among the cornerstones for democratic governance. Since governments are elected and as such assume the stewardship responsibility over public resources, they have to be as transparent and accountable as possible. And in order to serve people better, government needs to manage public resources with a view to improve the lives of the citizens and where this is not achieved, justifications and explanations and corrective actions on the identified weaknesses should be communicated to the citizenry. For example, TIZ inquired from some of the cited government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) on the actions taken on the recommendations from Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in early October this year. You may also wish to know that out of 15 ministries, departments and agencies to which this inquiry was made, only five (5) responded. These include; Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Ministry of Local Government and Housing and Ministry of Lands, Natural Resources ad Environmental Protection and Office of the Auditor General. This negative response on the inquiry by the MDAs demonstrates lack of commitment and seriousness to improving Public Resource Management (PRM) in particular and public service delivery in general. The response clearly demonstrates the unnecessary and draconian culture of unacceptable and unwarranted secrecy exhibited by some public institutions. It also demonstrates blatant refusal by government through these ministries to answer to its citizens. By refusing to respond to the inquiry, government, through these ministries lost an opportunity to demonstrate seriousness to safeguard public resources. As you may be aware, cited institutions are supposed to act on the recommendations from PAC within 60 days. Therefore, we are calling upon the Secretary to the Treasury to ensure that actions being taken on the recommendations from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) are undertaken within the stipulated timeframe as a way of showing commitment to integrity in the management of public resources. Cited Ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) should adhere to the 60 days period of acting on the recommendations from PAC and these actions should be communicated to the citizens as a way of completing the accountability cycle in public resource management if we have to be in tune with our theme of “breaking the corruption chain”. Your Excellency, distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen Allow me at this point to thank the people of Zambia for maintaining peace and stability during the loss of our fifth Republican President Mr. Michael Chilufya Sata, may his soul rest in peace. We are confident that even as we go the polls to elect a new president, the country will continue to have peace and stability it has enjoyed for the past 50years. TIZ is appealing to all presidential candidates for the January 20th 2015 presidential elections and their political parties to conduct issue based campaigns and avoid electoral corruption and mudslinging. Because not doing so could undermine Zambia’s democratic credentials which have given the country a positive image and attracted foreign investment. As an organization that promotes transparency and accountability, we implore all presidential hopefuls to practice politics of integrity, politics that are issue based and politics that do not permit corruption as they interact with voters. Clean elections will avoid voter apathy and promote peace during the elections. It is our appeal that all candidates and political parties must observe the electoral act and code of conduct by promoting transparency and accountability. As TIZ, we shall not hesitate to expose any form of electoral corruption. We are in the process of preparing a monitoring team to monitor the elections and to this effect we will collect evidence and expose those who wish to gain power through corrupt methods. We have in the past witnessed electoral malpractices such as buying of voter’s cards and making donations to woo support from voters. This must come to an end because it has been a common feature in most of the previous election campaigns. We also call upon all media organisations to promote honesty, integrity and accountability in their reporting about the presidential elections. Particularly we urge the public media to be impartial in accordance with our electoral laws. It is important to remember that corruption is not only fought at institutional level but also at individual level as well. Hence in order to break this corruption chain, people have to be alert, selfless and condemn corruption wherever they may be. We urge the religious community to dedicate this coming weekend sermons to the preaching of integrity and evils of corruption In 2014, Zambia’s score on the Corruption Perception Index has remained the same at 38 out of a possible 100. This simply means that over 12 months, we have made no significant improvements in the manner we are addressing corruption. The allegations of corruption have been made by Government officials including Ministers and the 2014 CPI score confirms that. The lack of serious government action to sternly deal with perpetrators of corruption, definitely contributes to this sad score for Zambia. We surely cannot expect to have better results when as a country we do not take fighting corruption seriously. Conclusion We need to see an improvement in the internal controls of financial management. We need to see strong political leadership and we would like to see strategies of addressing corruption in areas such as public procurement. It is time we put an end to the corruption reported in the construction sector. It is time that public works contracts are awarded to deserving contractors and suppliers and not to those who are politically connected. It is time for the investigating agencies, for the ACC, including the Investigator General’s office to upscale their efforts in bringing to book all the culpirts. We can only succeed in dealing with corruption if we demonstrate that we will not tolerate corrupt practices in the public sector. As political parties jostle for power for the January 2015 election, we want to urge them to conduct corruption free campaigns. It is unimaginable that a corrupt political party can run a clean government. It is asking too much to expect that a corrupt political leader can change his/her spots when they assume the Presidency. Our political parties need to rise above the electoral campaigns which are premised on bribery. We want to condemn the culture of politicians telling the electorate to accept bribes when offered by their opponents but vote for them. This is wrong and should not be encouraged. We call on voters to vote only for clean Politicians – remember that leaders, who have deep pockets to bribe, have nothing more beyond those bribes. Corruptly elected leaders will breed a corrupt government. We therefore challenge our presidential candidates to clearly indicate their plans and agenda for fighting corruption in this country as they campaign. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, Let us remember that preventing and combating corruption requires concerted efforts at all levels. We need to be more vigilant and dedicate ourselves to the fight against corruption. When we act together, we can make a difference in this fight against corruption. CSO’s, government, private sector, farmers, the media and the people of Zambia should act against corruption today and shine a light on those dark areas where corruption takes place, so that as a team we can make a better Zambia. TIZ wishes you all a happy anti-corruption day and God bless you, Delivered by Mr. Lee M. Habasonda Transparency International Zambia Chapter President
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 13:44:47 +0000
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