ACC MUST ACT!

THE public anger over the performance of the AntiCorruption Commission (ACC) is justified over it failure to deal conclusively with high pro le cases reported for action. Over the years, several high pro le cases have been reported to the ACC for investigations. ere has not been any tangible result for the public to see. One of the prominent cases that has been reported was the privatisation of the Intercontinental Hotel in Livingstone to Sun International Hotel. At the centre of the controversy was the role played by Mr Hakainde Hichilema, the preident of the United Party for National Development (UPND). Mr Hichilema has ended up as one of the major shareholders in Sun International, together with his business associate, Senior Chief Mukuni of the Toka-Leya in Kazungula. Mr Hichilema was reportedly entrusted with disposing of the Hotel. It is quite clear that there was something shy in the manner he became a shareholder in Sun International. As Zambia Republic Party leader Wright Musoma has demanded, there was need to explain how Mr Hichilema together with Senior Chief Mukuni ended up as shareholders in the same company that was now registered in a tax haven, Panama. Mr Musoma said the public deserved to know how the Intercontinental Hotel which was owned by the State was reportedly sold by the UPND leader to himself and his friend at a dismal amount of $5.65 million when there were higher bids. is is information on the public domain. He said ACC should save itself the trouble by explaining how Mr Hichilema, who was the negotiating chairman in the privatisation of Intercontinental in Livingstone was now a director in Sun International Hotel which nally bought the company. A check with the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) indicated that Mr Hichilema and Senior Chief Mukuni are among the company directors for Sun International Hotel in Livingstone. Is the ACC telling the nation that the whole privatisation process does not smack of an element of conflict of interest? ere is also the issue of the secret Saturnia forensic report. e Saturnia Pension Trust has been in the public domain and has been in litigation in the courts of laws. In this case, former BP Zambia Limited employees have been struggling to have their pension paid to no avail. e ACC is now embroiled in controversy over its failure to investigate the ownership of 48 houses in Lusaka’s Chalala area. It has all but discontinued its probe even though President Edgar Lungu has ordered that the ACC with other investigative wings must get to the bottom of the scam. Honestly, how could 48 houses in an upmarket residential area of the country’s capital city not have an owner? e ACC’s failure to probe this has led to the issue being politicised with all kinds of claims that the property is owned by “powerful” people closely connected to the government. Clearly, the ACC must up its act. It has all the powers under the constitution to investigate suspected corrupt practices and does not need to get permission from any institution to do so – not even State House. No wonder there have been calls that if it has failed to investigate the houses’ scam, along with other reported cases, then the best is to have it scrapped or overhauled. Its failure to carry out its mandate also sends wrong signals to the international community that there is widespread corruption in Zambia. At the end of the day, you have characters like the outgoing British High Commissioner to Zambia, Fergus Cochrane-Dyet, with tongue in cheek, describing how corrupt Zambia is.