By NATION REPORTER
THE United Party for National Development (UPND) should stop blaming the Patriotic Front
(PF) for the rising trend of corruption in the new dawn administration but should instead curb the
vice by dealing with it decisively, Transparency International Zambia (TI-Z) has said.
Maurice Nyambe, the TI-Z president has said while it was true that the UPND could have found
the problem of corruption after assuming the governance of the country after the August 2021
general elections, the onus was on the party in government not to become participants but to
nip the vice in the bud.
Responding to a query on the UPND continued blaming of the PF on governance and the
menace of corruption which has been rising in the ruling party, Mr Nyambe said there was no
doubt that corruption in the procurement sector had been happening for a long time but
challenged the new dawn to aggressively and decisively cure the cancer.
He said the UPND as a party in government should not concentrate on blaming the PF which
has been out of government for more than one year six months but strive to deal with the rising
corruption because it was their responsibility.
Mr Nyambe said it was the expectation of TI-Z and Zambians in general that the UPND should
spend less time blaming the PF on what was happening in the ruling party but should focus on
dealing with the corruption that was becoming rampant in the public procurement sector.
He stated that the UPND administration should know that government meant resolving the
challenges and problems, be it that they were created by those who left government or those
who are currently governing the country.
“There is no doubt that corruption in public procurement has existed for a long time and the
need to deal with it decisively is now. Our view as TI-Z is that in the year 2023 and going
beyond, the UPND administration should spend less time doing the blame game, should rather
focus on dealing decisively with the scourge of public procurement corruption currently taking
place in the new dawn. This is now time for action and not just words,” Mr Nyambe said.
Mr Nyambe however said while the UPND was being encouraged to deal with current
corruption, it was equally important those who could have been involved in corruption in the past
should be held accountable.
He explained that it is important for the UPND to address the systemic weaknesses that were
still existing within the procurement sphere to prevent the continued hemorrhage of public funds.
The UPND is blaming the Patriotic Front for the systemic rising corruption in the new dawn
administration, claiming that the ruling party inherited an entrenched and endemic corruption
system.
Cornelius Mweetwa, the UPND spokesperson says there were a lot of people in Zambia who
had cultivated a culture of more money in their pockets but were not ready to work for it hence
engaging themselves in corruption.
Mr Mweetwa said the corruption activities being witnessed in the UPND government were the
remnants of an inherited corrupt system because the governing party did not condone graft in all
its forms.
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