THE revelation that the government’s crusade against corruption is yielding positive results is most welcome.
Whilst some critics of Government continue crying foul that there is rampant corruption within the government, evidence suggests the opposite.
The evidence is that corruption has significantly reduced among government officials and even misuse of public resources has declined significantly.
In previous times there had been substantial complaints against corruption by various stakeholders and this eroded investor confidence among various stakeholders including donors.
When donors have no confidence in the governance system they tend to hold back their aid and this has an adverse impact on a country and may even affect the country’s local currency.
Allegations of high levels of corruption also adversely affect inflow of investment, thus not helping the creation of wealth and employment in a country.
This is why we welcome the Auditor General’s report, which reflects that the fight against graft and financial indiscipline is bearing fruit.
The latest Auditor General’s report shows that there has been a substantial decrease in the misappropriation of public funds since the Patriotic Front (PF) government came into office in 2011.
According to acting chief Government spokesperson Fackson Shamenda, the 2012 AG’s report shows that there has been a sharp decrease in the misappropriation of public funds.
Mr Shamenda said in a statement issued in Lusaka over the weekend that the Auditor General’s report shows that funds misappropriated in 2012 were only K463,000 compared to K1 million each in 2011 and 2010.
This clearly shows that public officers are getting President Sata’s message loud and clear; zero tolerance to corruption, financial irregularities and abuse of office.
As Mr Shamenda has said, this spending performance has not come by accident or surprise but through a deliberate, consistent and aggressive fight against corruption and embezzlement of public resources.
From the time the PF government came into office, it has waged a vigorous fight against corruption and abuse of public resources.
There have been many people that have been arraigned before the courts of law to answer charges over abuse of office or suspected corruption.
Such actions have sent a strong message to other public officers that this government means business when it comes to the fight against corruption and abuse of public resources.
We must commend the President for his resolute stance against corruption and this has helped to ensure that the rest of public officers know that the government wants to root out corruption.
Institutions such as the International Monetary Fund or World Bank and other donor countries have all acknowledged the government’s commitment to fight corruption.
It is in fact strange that opposition political parties are not acknowledging Government’s fight against graft but have instead opted to accuse government of graft.
The opposition must realise that they will only be relevant if they are living in tandem with what is obtaining on the ground.
The PF government deserves commendation for having driven the fight against corruption and embezzlement of public funds to levels where even the Auditor General’s report is acknowledging this.
There is no doubt that Zambia under the PF government is hungry for development and poverty reduction and there is no better way to attain these objectives without addressing corruption and misapplication of public funds.
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