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Emmanuel Mwamba, who once served as Zambia ambassador in Ethiopia, has called on cooperating partners to suspend funding and technical assistance to the Anti-Corruption Commission, alleging the institution had been “weaponised”.
In a statement issued in Lusaka on Friday, Mwamba said the ACC’s decision to halt or “clear” senior cabinet ministers and government officials previously under investigation “requires immediate action”.
He claimed the institution had “degenerated to harm the fight against corruption, the rule of law, the demand for transparency and accountability and democracy”.
Mwamba accused President Hakainde Hichilema of undermining oversight mechanisms when he dissolved the board previously chaired by Musa Mwenye.
“As soon as President Hakainde Hichilema dissolved the Musa Mwenye Board that was demanding for equal treatment of corruption cases both old and new… his surprise reaction was to dissolve a credible board that was demanding accountability,” he said.
He added that the board had sought action against senior officials including Solicitor General, Marshal Muchende, whom he said remained in office despite “serious allegations”.
Mwamba said the situation worsened with the appointment of retired Supreme Court Justice Evans Hamaundu and current ACC Director General Daphne Chabu, whom he alleged were partisan or compromised.
He claimed Chabu had previously sought to stand as an MP under the ruling United Party for National Development, and said Hamaundu had once faced a complaint before the Judicial Complaints Commission.
“Therefore, the news that the Anti-Corruption Commission has cleared senior government officials who were accused of corruption and fraud confirms long-held fears that the two cannot fight corruption,” he said.
Read More: ‘You’re free,’ Anti-graft agency clears Muchende, Matambo of corruption charges
Mwamba also criticised the ACC’s move to drop public investigations involving mining companies Glencore and First Quantum Minerals over suspected irregular political donations to the former ruling Patriotic Front and alleged similar donations to the UPND.
He said Justice Hamaundu and Chabu were “not fit for purpose” and had “abused the law… an act of favouritism, promotion of lawlessness and corruption”.
Mwamba argued that the decision to drop the cases was political.
He alleged that Zambia’s democracy had become “shrunken”, with law-enforcement bodies “weaponised against political opponents” and aligned to the executive.
He further alleged that President Hichilema had turned the fight against corruption into a campaign against rivals, saying even asset recoveries were “a joke” driven by selective justice.
He added that the Economic and Financial Crimes Court had become “a special court against former government officials instead of… pursuing economic and financial crimes”.
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