TRANSPERANCY International Zambia (TI-Z) has appealed to the ‘New Dawn’ Government to use this year’s commemoration of independence to turn the tide in the fight against corruption, and free Zambia from the shackles of this scourge.
TI- Z executive director Maurice Nyambe said despite efforts over the last 57 years, Zambia had continued to be beset with several challenges in relation to governance and the management of public resources, which had made it difficult to attain real economic emancipation.
In a statement to commemorate Zambia’s 57th independence day yesterday, Mr. Nyambe said the need to consolidate efforts towards addressing the many bottlenecks to the economic emancipation remained critical.
“As we commemorate 57 years of independence as a country, there is need for the New Dawn Government to address and strengthen law enforcement agencies such as the Anti-Corruption and Drug Enforcement Commissions in order to upscale the prosecution of cases involving corruption,” he said.
Mr. Nyirenda said Zambia had led by example in the demonstration of how peaceful transition of power can occur, and that the time had come for it to lead by example in fighting corruption through implementing innovative measures to combat the scourge.
He urged the new administration to take up the challenge in order to bring Zambia back on the right trajectory.
“In this regard, we note that the UPND manifesto, which TI-Z analysed along with two other party manifestos prior to the 2021 elections, promises to actualize the declaration of assets and lifestyle audits on public officials,” Mr. Nyirenda said.
He said the promise was in line with Zambia’s Constitution, which provided for the declaration of assets and the development of a substantive law to actualize this provision.
And Mr. Nyambe paid tribute to the many great sons and daughters of Zambia, who sacrificed so much in the fight to maintain and improve our political, economic and social freedoms over the last 57 years.
He said while those efforts may not always have yielded results, the desire and commitment to improved the country’s wellbeing deserves glowing tribute and will forever be etched in the annuls of Zambia’s history.
Mr. Nyambe said over the last 57 years, the maturity of the country’s democracy has been put to the test on a number of occasions, and the 2021 general elections were no exception in that regard.
He said the country had come a long way over the last 57 years in spite of the political, economic and social challenges we continue to face.
