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Zambian Presidentâs Anti-Corruption Commitment Questioned

   Peter Clottey 04 January 2011
   Zambian President Rupiah Banda, left, toasts with Chinese President Hu
   Jintao  after a signing ceremony for a wide range of mining, trade and
   cultural  agreements,  at  the  Great  Hall  of the People in Beijing,
   China, Feb. 25, 2010 (file photo)

Photo: AP

   Zambian President Rupiah Banda, left, toasts with Chinese President Hu
   Jintao  after a signing ceremony for a wide range of mining, trade and
   cultural  agreements,  at  the  Great  Hall  of the People in Beijing,
   China, Feb. 25, 2010 (file photo)

   The executive director of Zambia-based Transparency International (TI)
   has questioned President Rupiah Bandaâs efforts to root out corruption
   ahead of this yearâs general elections.

   Goodwell  Lungu  said  his  organization  will  keep  up  pressure  on
   President  Banda  to  continue the graft fight the late President Levy
   Mwanawasa began a few years ago.

   âWe  are  quite  amazed  and  disturbed  with  the  fact  that he (the
   ex-intelligence chief is) still campaigning for the current president.
   And,  also, he is on record as praising the Zambian judiciary, that it
   is  one  of  the best judicial systems in Africa. For us, we feel that
   this is a ploy to win sympathy from the judiciary, as well as the head
   of state,â said Lungu.

   âWe  have expressed our displeasure over the way the current president
   has been handling the fight against corruption.â

   President  Banda  has  come  under  increasing  criticism after former
   intelligence  Chief  Xavier  Chungu  began  openly campaigning for the
   incumbent leaderâs re-election bid.

   Chungu  reportedly  fled  Zambia  to  avoid  prosecution  after he was
   charged with graft, along with former President Frederick Chiluba.

   Chungu,  former  Director-General  of the Zambia Security Intelligence
   Services  (ZSIS), still faces graft charges while serving under former
   President Chiluba.

   Lungu  said  there are indications that Zambians are disappointed that
   President Banda seemed not to be doing enough to fight corruption.

   âWe  are  seeing quite a lowered level of the fight against corruption
   and  we  have  concluded  from  a  variety  of  facts that the current
   president  doesnât seem to be very much committed to the fight against
   corruption in comparison to the late President Mwanawasa,â said Lungu.

   âOur   position   is  reaffirmed  by  the  recent  (poll)  index  that
   Transparency   International  Zambia  conducted,  which  showed  that,
   comparatively,  most  respondents  who are citizens of the republic of
   Zambia  did  indicate  that  the  current  (president)  is not so much
   committed  to  the  fight  against  corruption  compared  to  the late
   president.â

   Lungu,  however, said President Banda still has enough time to, in his
   words, rekindle the fight against corruption in the country.

   President   Mwanawasa   gained   international   recognition  for  his
   anti-corruption  crusade  after  former  President  Chiluba,  who  was
   charged with graft while in office from 1991 to 2001.

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