PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema says the slowness of the law has made those who take public assets and convert them into private hands assume that the fight against corruption has been watered down.
Meanwhile, President Hichilema says food security is threatening the gains Zambia has made in its debt restructuring efforts.
President Hichilema was speaking when he swore-in Information and Media Minister Cornelius Mweetwa, Ministry of Information and Media Permanent Secretary Thabo Kawana, Central Province Minister Princess Kasune, Clerk of the National Assembly Roy Ngulube, Human Rights Commission Chairperson Dr Pamela Sambo and her Deputy Dr Felicity Kalungu.
Others include Human Rights Commissioner Panic Chilufya and Commissioner in the Anti-Corruption Commission Dr Tommy Namitondo.
President Hichilema observed that the law was slow with regards to the fight against corruption.
“The slowness of the law has made those who take public assets and convert them into private hands, it has made them assume that the fight against corruption has now been watered down. Very wrong. I think it has built enough data now and it’s ready to explode,” he said.
President Hichilema said the Anti-Corruption Commission must conduct investigations before effecting arrests.
“Anti-Corruption Commission, investigate before you arrest. The day you arrest, you’re ready to prosecute. There’s efficiency then you’re focused on outcomes rather than processes. Efyo nalandile mailo nomba ndemona abantu tabaleumfwa. Balelanda fimbi fimbi (That’s exactly what I said yesterday but it’s as if people are not listening). They’re saying other things). My message is simple, focus on outcomes, not processes. You followed the Chinese trip. Pay attention to what we’re doing. 12 days later, yesterday, we were signing off $1.3 billion, from trip only 12 days ago. Following our trip, yesterday [China] committed an additional $1.3 billion in various areas. You’ll see the nature of meetings that the presidency and Cabinet and the Vice-President will be focusing on, [on] opening the economy now. Anything that leads us to an extra job, the President’s time will be there. Be part of that journey,” he said.
“Human Rights Commission, where your human rights end, mine start. Let’s understand that correctly. To break the law is different from defining it as human rights. So when people come to complain to you, distinguish between people breaking the law, we’ve established that we’ll restore the rule of law, so when complaints come and they should come to you, there should be a distinction. This is a transgression against the rule of law, this isn’t human rights. People are beginning to abuse human rights and Bill of Rights to mean that they can break the law and get away with it. The rule of law makes society civilised”.
And President Hichilema challenged Mweetwa to do more in terms of disseminating information on what government was doing.
“The media team, this government is doing a lot of work but we’re not disseminating that to the people who put us in office. Back to the Judiciary, 50 years of the Supreme Court, when the team was running me through yesterday, they showed me the statistics, they have numbers of how many cases the Economics and Financial Crimes Court has handled since it was put in place, including the cases they’ve been able to deal with conclusively in the last two years. But the public is not aware. The chart is there in the room but how many people go in that room? Very few. They need to know what is going on. Go and extract that information Minister Mweetwa. PS, extract that information. They should give it to you. Create a working relationship that allows the judicial information to come through to the ministry. Create relationships for information to flow. We want a change honourable Mweetwa. The people must know what’s happening in their country,” he said.
“The office is just a facilitation. The car, you guys who love big cars. I don’t know why Zambians are mesmerised by big cars. I don’t know the meaning of that. It’s just a piece of metal. You give it a different colour, it looks different. It’s meant to facilitate you to deliver something to the people. But we’re all vexed about cars, big things. You don’t care about the cost of those cars. You heard the announcement from Russia. They are putting screws on petroleum, reducing production. You know the meaning of that? Push the price up, higher cost for us. That money, we can save it and use it to support parliamentary committees and get them to conclude their business in one sitting”.
Meanwhile, speaking when the European Investment Bank paid a courtesy call on him, Wednesday, President Hichilema said food security was threatening the gains Zambia had made in its debt restructuring efforts.
“The agriculture side is very important to us. The restructuring efforts we are making, they have come at a time when the global economic financial conditions are difficult. We are facing increased inflationary pressures arising from some factors that are beyond our control as a country. The drive on the cost of fuel, fertiliser, is causing us issues on the food side. Food security is now threatening the gains we have made in our restructuring efforts. I need you the EU to be aware, and our friends globally, that we need to open our eyes up around the issue of food security, which will negate, if not managed properly, the gains that we have made. If you look at Zambia, it’s been self-sufficient in food. But all of a sudden, the pressure for food from our neighbouring countries is now visible in our own supermarket shelves. We see it from the pressure on the rising cost of mealie meal, driven by the pressure of smuggling of our own grain here. We are making efforts to contain this but we can see that it’s huge and so we need to address the production of food, the productivity which is very low,” he said.
He called on the European Investment Bank to help Zambia conclude its debt restructuring process with private creditors.
“…We are still working on the private creditors which is the other group. And I think you as the European Investment Bank has leverage with those colleagues that you cooperate with in the private sector, in the capital finance world. So, we will ask you to remind your housing, the EU leadership, your own leadership to give us that additional notch and the colleagues that you’re sitting with, including bondholders. Many of whom you know from your position personally. So, we want to encourage you to continue supporting us in that space. The two are important to our restructuring programme,” said President Hichilema.
Meanwhile, European Investment Bank vice-president Thomas Ostros commended President Hichilema for clinching the debt restructuring agreement in a difficult environment.
“We have been financing in this country in partnership with you in a lot of very important projects in water and sanitation. This is going on right now, we stand ready to disburse further those things, getting clean water to millions. We are open for business, we are interested to support your agenda. Let me also appreciate your work when it comes to the debt sustainability issues. I congratulate you for the steps that you have been managing to take in a difficult environment. You have been very strong in pushing forward and I’m also grateful for that you have continued your payments to us on your debt. I think that this is very good for us because that means we can continue to support your investments and your strategy,” said Ostros.
