Barely a week after the arrest of a Member of Parliament for Livingstone constituency, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has cracked the whip on the Infrastructure Minister In Africa’s copper producer Zambia Honorable Ronal Chitotela. This follows the unearthing of assets acquired through crime proceeds. A letter shared by the ACC revealed that, on 01 July 2016 and 30 October 2018 Chitotela (47) concealed property lots in Makeni disguised in the name of a Diris Mukange, suspected to have been acquired with crime proceeds in a money laundering scheme.
This development comes a weeks after Zambia’s corruption perception index for 2018 deteriorated. The 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released by Transparency International, revealed that Zambia is among the world’s most corrupt countries, with a ranking of 105. Zambia had a score of 35 and was placed 18th in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) which is ranked as the worst performing region in the world. The 35 score is a drop from the previous year of 37, signalling an increase in corruption last year.
Corruption is a plague that has cost the copper producer at various levels from revenue to perception. However the Southern African nation has implored various interventions, key of which include a strengthened Public Finance Management Act of 2018. The Head of State has given the investigative wings latitude to go after anyone that is involved in corrupt practices irrespective of office or status in society. Since enforcement of the strengthened Act last year, the whip has cracked on public servants such as Accountants to senior members such ministers and MPs proving that there are no scared cows in the nation.
With Zambia in the lime light for fiscal prudence by multilaterals such as the World Bank, European Union and International Monetary Fund, this development sends the right and strong signals to the outside world from a perception perspective.
Other investigations the ACC have concluded include the social cash transfer impasse that transpired last year whose report is still classified and will be shared in due course.
Honorable Chitotela has since been released on bail.