By JOHN KOMBE
CORRUPTION allegations in the current government involving ministers must be investigated to dispel the perception that the graft fight was targeted towards officials in the previous regime, veteran politician George Mpombo has said.
And Chiengi Member of Parliament Given Katuta said it was disappointing that after calling former government officials thieves, the new dawn administration had so far failed to prove their allegations apart from arresting them on alleged insults and old assault cases.
Dr. Mpombo made the observation in an interview yesterday. He noted that despite numerous allegations of corruption in the new dawn administration, no follow ups were being made.
He said that the fact that President Hakainde Hichilema can lament that some of his ministers were being taught the corruption trade coupled with some revelations of graft just shows that there is need to probe some people.
He pointed out that unless the fight against corruption is targeted at corrupt elements both in and out of government, the narrative that it was selective will not be undone.
He observed that allegations the investigative wings were targeting Patriotic Front officials was being fueled by the lack of action on those in Government.
Dr. Mpombo also urged the government not to ignore any iota of allegations of corruption in the current government.
He noted that some sections of society and the media have revealed a number of cases that show that there was something that needs probing.
He also advised investigative wings to ensure that they have tangible evidence to take the suspects to court.
Dr. Mpombo said that the delay to prosecute cases was denting the image of the suspects who have not been taken to court after allegations made against them.
He said this is tantamount to denying justice.
He noted that most of those who were being investigated had not been taken to court, making them prone to be seen as guilty by the court of public opinion.
He said that this was unfair to those who were being investigated as they have been proved guilty by the public even before they are brought before court.
Dr. Mpombo advised the investigative wings to expedite their investigations to prove their neutrality.
He said that the confidence that the investigative wings were being objective was slowly eroding because most cases don’t seem to progress beyond interrogations, a thing that was worrying.
Meanwhile, Ms Katuta said Zambians believed that billions of Kwachas were stolen by the “clique of thieves” in the previous regime as alleged by the UPND, but disappointingly, ever since the arrests begun, people have not heard of a major breakthrough with regards to national assets recovery.
She said instead of arresting PF officials on insults and assault charges, the UPND government should focus on delivering on their campaign promises of national assets recovery.
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