State House says Auditor General Ron Mwambwa informed President Edgar Lungu about his decision to resign weeks ago, and as such “there is nothing sinister” about the development.

And President Edgar Lungu has complained about a tendency by Zambians “politicising everything on baseless grounds” in order to gain political mileage.

Commenting on the resignation of Auditor General Ron Mwambwa who left his lucrative position, Thursday, the President said he accepted the resignation notice after hearing that top government official wanted to go and set up the auditing system in Liberia, a move which was beneficial to Zambia.

“I had a meeting with the Auditor General prior to his resignation. He told me he was going to Liberia where he would set up an auditing system for that country. I thought that was good for him to go to Liberia because he would be a flag-bearer for Zambia,” he said.

President Lungu expressed concern that some citizens were interpreting the resignation as a vote of no confidence in the PF government’s commitment to fight corruption and foster accountability in public institutions.

“It is really sad and unfortunate that there is a growing culture among the Zambian society to politicise everything on baseless grounds to gain political mileage. Where are we going as a country with this culture?” asked President Lungu in a press release issued, Friday, by State House Chief Analyst for Press and Public Relations, Cecilia Mulenga.

“His Excellency has said there is nothing sinister about the resignation of the Auditor General, Mr. Ron Mwambwa, because prior to this, the Head of State had a formal discussion with him on the matter. The President notes that he did not resist to his resignation because going to Liberia meant that Mr. Mwambwa would be Zambia’s flag-bearer in that country and there was nothing wrong,” stated Mulenga.

In a statement availed, Thursday, head of public relations at the Auditor General’s Office, Ellen Chikale, stated that Mwambwa resigned to “pursue personal endeavours.”

The Office of the Auditor General and its sister-agency, the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), have both come under intense pressure from some PF government and ruling party officials who have repeatedly accused the two institutions of releasing “sensational reports” of embezzlement and abuse of public funds.