Malambo PF member of parliament Makebi Zulu says the ruling party frowns upon corruption and all corrupt acts.

And Zulu has called on Zambians not to downplay the fight against corruption by not following the right channels in reporting corrupt acts to the appropriate institutions mandated to tackle the vice.

In an interview, Zulu, who is also deputy chairman for legal affairs in the ruling party, said the PF frowned upon corruption and all corrupt acts.

“I have no mandate to speak on behalf of the party, but what I know, as a party, we frown upon corruption. As a party in government, we know that corruption in whatever form that it takes is at the very core of what is intended. Our job is to deliver to the expectations of the people, the monies that government collects is intended to deliver the services to the people whom we serve, and we are doing just that. And if at all there is any hint of corruption, that should be reported, and our President is very eager to see to it that there is no corruption in his government and he is eager to make sure that he fights it in all its forms and we, as ministers and both from the party and in government, we are also having this fight against corruption because we want to deliver to the expectations of our people and not to take away from them,” Zulu said.

And Zulu, who is also Eastern Province Minister, argued that while corruption existed in all walks of life, it was slowly losing its meaning on account of several stakeholders accusing government leaders of perpetrating the vice.

He, however, noted that the presence of corruption cannot be downplayed, and that there was need take the right step by reporting cases to the relevant authorities.

“You can’t deny the existence of corruption, not just in government, but in all walks of life. But if any person is going to allege corruption in a blanket form, then it will come to place where everyone is saying ‘corruption, corruption!’ And it stops having the necessary meaning that it should have. So, if someone is going to allege corruption against any individual, we have processes, that’s why the ACC (Anti-Corruption Commission) was set up and the very name itself suggests that they are mandated to fight any form of corruption or if any person is going to allege corruption, they should state what that corrupt activity is because the word corruption is losing its meaning as it were because everyone is using it in a sense of…well, if they are displeased with anything the say it’s corruption,” said Zulu.

“So, it’s being equated with being displeased with what is being done and not necessarily to an illegal act. So, we need to have a citizenry that is open, a citizenry that is well informed to know what exactly corruption is and to know the route to take when they allege corruption. If It’s something that the ACC can investigate and come to a conclusion that, indeed, there was corruption, then we should do just that. To simply shout corruption and not take the necessary steps to fight it will be to cheapen the fight against corruption and we shouldn’t cheapen the fight against corruption, we have to take it seriously.”

Last Friday, several stakeholders gathered at an News Diggers!/Osisa, in partnership with Eden University and Prime TV public discussion forum in Lusaka, where Zambians were advised to kick out all corrupt public officials who were not serving the in the public interest.