MUBANGA LUCHEMBE
THE UPND government’s selective anti-corruption fight against the previous regime’s actors was bound to fail. The question was when would it fail and who would be embarrassed? And what’s happening to UPND’s hitherto anti-corruption campaign promise?
U.S. Ambassador Michael C. Gonzales’s recent revelation that US$20 million in American aid – intended for maize for drought relief in the nation – remained unaccounted for provides the answers.
What did surprise many socio-politico-economic observers was that despite the dire need and the skyrocketing cost of mealie-meal, this money did not translate into food security for Zambians.
If the United States provided such a significant sum, why didn’t the UPND government ensure the delivery of affordable mealie-meal to the nation? Was it so unkind to the pain of ordinary people? Or was it keeping the money for its 2026 re-election campaign?
Then came the even more startling detail; the maize procured with these funds was bought at more than 48 percent above the market price. How could such blatant financial corruption occur under the leadership of a president who was once touted as the country’s anti-corruption champion?
The irony is bitter. Are discerning Zambians now to believe that corruption is contagious – or simply resilient?
But their concern doesn’t stop at US$20 million. The truly alarming figure is the US$3 billion that Mr Gonzales claimed Zambia loses to corruption annually. That number is the heart of President Hakainde Hichilema’s leadership.
He campaigned on an anti-corruption platform, promising to clean up after the alleged excesses of former President Edgar Lungu. Citizens were told corruption would be a thing of the past once he was voted into office.
And yet, law-abiding citizens are here again – witnessing impunity and graft flourish in broad daylight under a leader who self-hyped and billed himself as the most transparent in the country’s history.
Yet, many discerning Zambians have long viewed President Hichilema’s anti-corruption rhetoric with scepticism. His decision to place the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Drug Enforcement Commission under the direct authority of his office raised red flags.
So too has his persistent refusal to publicly disclose his business partners. If they are to trust him, transparency cannot be optional – it must be the foundation of his leadership. They deserve to know who sits at his dinner table at Community House.
Lest they have forgotten, the UPND government cannot credibly investigate itself. They only know about “maizegate” because of a change in leadership in the United States. What else might still be hidden?
For now, President Hichilema owes the voting public an explanation. And yet again, the United States government lately announced a cut of US$50 million equivalent to K1.4 billion in annual aid to Zambia intended for medications and medical supplies, citing rampant theft of donor-funded drugs and the UPND governmentís failure to take decisive corrective action.
Addressing the media at the U.S Embassy in Lusaka recently, Mr Gonzales expressed disappointment over the UPND government’s inability to prevent the diversion of essential medicines meant to be distributed free of charge to the Zambian public.
Mr. Gonzales disclosed that since late 2021, U.S. investigations uncovered widespread theft of anti-retroviral, anti-malarial medications, and tuberculosis drugs supplied through American-funded programmes.
He explained that according to the findings, 95 percent of pharmacies across the country were found selling these medicines, with 45 percent specifically distributing U.S donated supplies adding that despite more than 13-months of repeated alerts and offers of technical support from the U.S, the situation remained unresolved.
He also clarified that the US$50 million was strictly part of the US$128 million funding each year for HIV, malaria, and TB interventions and not part of broader policy shifts in the United States.
The ambassador stated that while medicines would continue to be delivered until January 2026 to avoid immediate stock-outs, no more shipments would follow unless the UPND government acted decisively and indicated its willingness to support any meaningful action during the transition period.
Reacting to this, the Ministry of Health said it was taking action against the theft of donated medicines after the United States announced a major aid cut over the government’s failure to tackle the racket.
The United States announced earlier this month, that it would cut US$50 million in annual health funding to Zambia over the “systematic” theft of medicine and other supplies meant to be handed out for free to the most vulnerable but which had been found to be on sale in pharmacies.
The US embassy said the fraud was discovered in late 2021 but the UPND government had only arrested a few mid-level officials for involvement instead of tracking down the masterminds.
The ministry said an independent forensic audit had also led to the removal from office of senior officials at the medical supplies agency, including its director general, and other actions were expected. For the moment, though, President Hichilema will be up for re-election next year, so has he fulfilled his 2021 pre-electoral campaign promise to stamp out corruption?
As fate would have it, President Hichilema has a bit of a fight on his hands. The UPND flag-bearer faces an election in August next year in which his closest rival could be retired-yet-returned to active politics ex-President Lungu of the Tonse Alliance.
The two men appear matched for a presidential election rematch. President Hichilema remains popular in his party’s strongholds of Northern, North-Western, Southern and Western provinces while ex-President Lungu can count on strongholds in Central, Copperbelt, Eastern, Luapula, Lusaka and Muchinga provinces. Because of this, the presidential candidates have to appeal beyond their ethnocentric support bases, and so the next year’s presidential contest looks likely to become one of policy as much as personality.
So, there the sceptical Zambian electorates have it – President Hichilema claims he has been able to rebrand Zambia to attract investments to avoid a return to the debilitating public debt that has been restructured by his administration since assuming office in 2021.
His opponents, however, charge that he has been divisive as a national leader, and that he has allowed graft to grow thereby exacerbating the dent in the UPND’s selective anti-corruption fight.
