Parley approves K76m  ACC budget

Sat, 10 Dec 2016 10:59:59 +0000

GOVERNMENT will focus on tackling corruption through the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for immediate and mid-term public procurement, public finance management, public licensing, land allocation and possession of unexplained property, Richard Musukwa has said.

Mr Musukwa, who is acting leader of the House, said Government was focusing its energy on the fight against illicit wealth, illegal land allocation and possession of unexplained property by empowering the ACC.

Meanwhile, Parliament yesterday approved the ACC 2017 budget allocation of K76, 133,279 and out of this, the operational budget allocation for the year 2017 is K17, 077, 223.

Mr Musukwa said Government would focus on five key areas in order to ensure that corruption was rooted out from both the public and private sector.

Speaking when the Anti-Corruption Commission budget for 2017 was presented, Mr Musukwa said the ACC would conduct efficient and effective investigations through lifestyle audits.

Mr Musukwa said Government was geared to take the fight against corruption to every corner of the country and to every institution, including public and private ones.

He said there would be no sacred cows in the fight against corruption, adding that the fight against scourge was a key tenet of democracy and good governance.

Mr Musukwa said the revelations of the Auditor General’s report was not pleasing and left much to be desired.

“Mr Chairman, the ACC will conduct targeted procurement audits as a means of preventing corruption and sealing loopholes of corruption in institutions. It would also target young people particularity in the nursery and primary school levels during the corruption education programs in order to impart values of integrity in children at an early stage,” Mr Musukwa said.

He said ACC would strengthen the implementation and streamlining of the National Integrity Program in liaison with chief executive officers of various institutions so that institutions devised internal mechanisms for addressing corruption and aspire to have zero audits queries.

Mr Musukwa said ACC would effectively communicate the ACC’s achievements to the public in order to win public confidence and support for the operations of the commission.

He said it was anticipated that the above programs once implemented in 2017 would go a long way towards curtailing the corruption scourge and further foster a spirit of integrity among Zambians.

Mr Musukwa said the total budget for the Commission is K76, 133,279 and out of this, the operational budget allocation for the year 2017 is K17, 077, 223.

He said Government has in the 2017 budget, therefore, increased the operational allocation to the ACC by 69.5 percent from the K9, 716,533 that was allocated for 2016.

He said operational boost is expected to enhance the capacity of the Commission to increase the completion rate of cases as well as successfully achieving convictions