PF corruption was child’s play – Kalaba

…says what the PF was stealing was nothing but pocket change compared to the grand looting and plundering happening under the new dawn administration

By BARNABAS ZULU

THE UPND government is presiding over the worst corruption and governance scandals ever in the country’s history, with grand theft characterising the Hakainde Hichilema administration, Harry Kalaba has said.
Mr Kalaba, the leader of the Citizens First (CF) says the corruption under the Patriotic Front (PF) government was nothing compared to the grand looting and pure embezzlement of the country’s resources under the watch of President Hichilema.
Mr Kalaba said the corruption under the UPND administration was grand and yet President Hichilema had concentrated on chasing after the leaders of the previous regime when the country was bleeding from the looting and plundering by his own administration.
In an interview, Mr Kalaba said the recent Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) report had unmasked the scale of corruption taking place under the new dawn administration.
“There is too much corruption in the UPND government. What happened under the PF was petty thieving compared to the grand corruption we are seeing today,” Mr Kalaba charged.
He alleged that the FIC report may have been tampered with in an attempt to protect the UPND from a public backlash.
“I strongly suspect that the FIC report has been doctored. The use of ambiguous terms like ‘private sector’ and ‘multinationals’ involved in illicit financial flows is a deliberate attempt to launder the image of the UPND,” he claimed.
Mr Kalaba said the public deserves to know who is behind the illicit financial flows and corruption reported in the FIC document.
“Why are the actual names not being mentioned? The truth is being hidden from the people because the perpetrators are connected to those in power,” he said.
He also accused President Hichilema’s administration of betraying the people’s trust.
He urged Zambians to wake up and hold the government accountable. “Zambians must open their eyes. This corruption is bleeding our economy.”