Malfunction of government departments

I WANT to thank the framers of our 2016 constitution for the “cumbersome” procedure on the removal of the Director Public Prosecution (DPP).

Otherwise, if the current holder was at the mercy of the Presidency, she have by now become history.

Many of you following this issue may have watched the April 24 ZNBC Sunday Interview. The focus was on the DPP and DEC and featured Justice Minister Mulambo Hamakuni Haimbe as the guest.

He reassured some us who had concluded that the Executive arm of government is scapegoating’ the DPP over the Milingo Lungu immunity scheme. He also reassured the nation of the restoration of proper coordination between the DPP and DEC in the execution of their mandates.

Despite the reassurance by the Justice Minister, it was shocking to learn that the DEC has escalated the internal fight against the DPP by petitioning the Judicial Complaints Authority to have the DPP removed (Daily Nation, April 26 2022).

My initial view was that there was an invisible hand outside government pushing the DPP out. I was naive and should have consulted widely including veteran politician Dr Vernon Mwaanga on how governments go shopping for consent.

The invisible hand is actually within the government itself and most probably within the Ministry of Justice itself. The action by the DEC will serve as a case study of malfunction of coordination between two state agencies in public administration on the fight against corruption.

The DEC cannot do such a thing without the implicit authority and support of the appointing authority because of the huge accountability consequences.

Oh my God, this is happening under the leadership of the meritocratic Mr Haimbe. The minister is very intelligent but his leadership is showing signs of serious moral lapses.

By the way, our Lord Jesus Christ whose resurrection we are still celebrating called the ministry of taking action contrary to your announcement as the ministry of hypocrisy.