By OLIVER SAMBOKO
THE Financial Intelligence Centre needs to be reformed urgently because it is a danger to economic prosperity in its current form, Citizens Democratic Party (CDP) leader Robert Mwanza President has said.
Mr Mwanza said instead of helping to preventing financial crimes, the Centre was aiding in to the country losing colossal sums of money through the scourge.
He said in an interview that observations that FIC was interfering with smooth investigations of financial crimes must be taken seriously.
Mr Mwanza said the Centre needed urgent reforms to stop it from just being an alarmist institution. Mr Mwanza said it’s unfortunate that the two institutions has only became active after the change of Government creating an impression that there was an invisible hand that was stopping them to do their work independently which is not the case.
“Just like DEC, FIC needs urgent reforming. It’s sad that these institutions that are supposed to do their work professionally have only resurfaced after the change of Government, the question that begs an answer is that where were they, all along,” he said.
He said because of this behavior, the people of Zambia are now questioning and suspicious that maybe there is an invisible hand that is directing them in the manner they are conducting their businesses. He said the behavior of DEC and FIC is uncalled for and not acceptable in a country like Zambia where laws are respected.
Mr Mwanza said the two institutions are protected by the law and therefore cannot claim that the previous Governments used to gag them or stop them from working independently and professionally in accordance with the ACTs that created them. “As a party we are surprised that all this time DEC and FIC were quiet and had to wait until now to act because now the country has a new administration,” he said.
