Moses Muteteka MP (Chisamba, MMD) recently became the third parliamentarian to face corruption charges over the last month. He was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for corrupt practices involving hammer mills, bicycles and solar panels. He was charged with eight counts of abuse of authority of office and one count of theft. Others recently arrested are Ronnie Shikapwasha (Keembe, MMD) and Elijah Muchima (Ikelengi, MMD)
It seems to me that MMD was very corrupt and completely mismanaged the country. Surely we have not forgotten so soon? These arrests are therefore expected. The timing makes sense in so far as the cases needed to be investigated properly. I always thought the early arrests of Mwale and others were premature - and appeared unthought through. Corruption requires proper investigation. It is to be commended that effort continues to be managed to bring culprits to book.
That said the political dynamics in the country will naturally lead to questions about how politically motivated these arrests may be. The ACC has a credibility problem because it has failed to conclude investigations of current public officials, even when some of these officials have admitted to breaking the law e.g not reporting bribe attempts. There are some a dual justice system that existed under the Banda administration has not been dismantled.
Of course the bigger problem is that regardless of how genuine these cases may be, it is unlikely the alleged culprits will ever be found guilty. The cases will take long. By the time they conclude, the public will lose interest in the case. The jail in Zambia is only for the poor. This is why they have not reformed how corruption cases are dealt with in our courts. Its all part of the political dance.
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