How serious Dr Joyce Banda is determined to fight corruption The President immediately ordered wide-ranging investigations into Capital Hill’s fraudulent activities, stating that no one—not even members of her family, if they are involved—should be spared. The President called for an emergency meeting of Parliament to discuss the matter with a view to finding bipartisan solutions to the national problem. President Banda met leaders of Opposition, Development Partners, Civil Society and other stakeholders to update them on the developments and actions taken and to hear their views on the matter. Political party leaders pledged to support the President in this fight against fraud and pilferage. She directed that IFMIS be suspended and that all transactions revert to manual pending rectification of problems in the payment system and sealing of loopholes. The President particularly directed the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs to: Ensure that the suspects are dealt with expeditiously according to law; Trace, then attach/seize/freeze the suspects’ properties and bank accounts; Review the legal framework to introduce, where necessary, reforms to catch fraudsters and deter others. And to review the Anti-Corruption Act and work on the possibility of establishing an Anti-Corruption Court. The Government has developed an action matrix—covering investigations, and prosecutions, Auditing, Accounting; Administrative and Reforms. The aim is to ensure all areas requiring serious attention are attended to. On President Banda’s instructions, the following have also been done so far: The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has set up a dedicated team of five (5) lawyers mandated to prosecute with speed and, where necessary, immediately support the Anti-Corruption Bureau with prosecutorial services. The Director of Public Prosecutions has further received finances for its operations to register quick progress on the cases. The Ministry of Justice is working with the Ministry of Lands and the Road Traffic Directorate to ensure that real estate and motor vehicles owned by civil servants as well as their relatives are profiled and tracked. Seriously and urgently push for the reform of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act to ensure creation a civil assets seizure regime and protection of whistle blowers and witnesses. The President has also assembled a team of local and international experts in ICT, forensics and special investigations to comb through government business processes, identify loopholes, culprits and recover some of the stolen funds. The President has established a Forensic Unit within the Anti-Corruption Bureau to enhance investigations. The Unit will carry out forensic audit on payments undertaken in the past five years. #jbbeyond2014
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 04:50:08 +0000
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