JUDGE HAMAUNDU HAS AN UPHILL BATTLE TO CONVINCE CITIZENS -DR KAABA
Lawyer, Academicians and former Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) Commissioner Dr. O’Brian Kaaba has commented on the newly appointed ACC Board.
In an article below Dr Kaaba has observed that the new Board Chairman Retired Judge Evans Hamaundu has an uphill battle to convince Citizens following his two controversial judgements while serving;
I would like to first pay tribute to our former ACC Board chairperson, Mr Musa Mwenye SC. It was a great honour to serve with him. He demonstrated great patriotism, fearlessness, rare commitment to the fight against corruption and strong sense of autonomy.
Under his leadership, we brought great stability to the institution and enhanced its credibility. His passion for the job was palpable and unapparelled.
I also served with dedicated colleagues, Mrs Irene Lamba, Pastor Tommy Namitondo and Dr Mbushi. We were resolved to fighting both past and present corruption. Each one of them can confirm that despite hitting a brick wall, we were dedicated to fighting corruption and to protecting no one.
Coming to the new appointments, the only person I know personally is Nalucha. She has the courage and capacity to stick out her head for her strong beliefs in good governance and she has an excellent record in the good governance sector. For others, I only know them through the press or their publicly available records.
I could perhaps in passing comment on the new chairperson picking, Judge Evans Hamaundu. I have not had any personal interaction with him so I do not know him at an individual level. Those who know him say, at personal level, he is a man of admirable integrity.
That is a good attribute to bring to the Commission. My knowledge of him is through reading his judgments and I think there are two troubling judgments in the area of public interest.
1. The first is his judgment refusing to register the London High Court judgment which found that former President Fredrick Chiluba and his colleagues had defrauded the Zambian government of more than US$40million. You may recall that Professor Muna Ndulo had written a brilliant and well researched amicus brief supporting the registration of the judgment which was treated with contempt. Against clear statutory law, established precedents and common sense, the Judge declined the application and the judgment was never registered.
2. The Second one is his decision, in the case brought by LAZ, challenging the constitutionality of some provisions in the Public Order Act. The judge and (and the bench he sat with) did not see anything wrong with those provisions. Both cases are an extreme example of state-centric adjudication and judged from that, he has an uphill challenge to convince the citizens that his approach at the helm of the ACC will be different.
This is important because ACC primarily targets high level corruption often committed by the powerful and those in government. The President has consistently indicated that no corrupt official in his government should be protected from investigation and prosecution. It is the role of the ACC to actualize that.
Overall, I admire their collective courage to accept to serve on the ACC board.
It is a thankless task. Contrary to popular views, there is no one who makes money by being an ACC Commissioner. At least not during our time. The sitting allowance during our time was K1,500.
Right from the beginning when we were appointed, our team resolved that we were not going to ask for any adjustment to our conditions of service as we simply wanted to provide a dedicated public service, and we stuck to that.
The new appointees must be prepared to be scrutinized and insulted for nothing in return. During my term there, for example, Sishuwa Sishuwa wrote about three articles claiming that government had bought us into silence. It is such a petty and uninformed view because within the ACC we were working tirelessly to do the right thing.
The more we pushed hard the more we endangered our lives and created enemies both in the past regime and new officials in government. I believe the new colleagues will face similar challenges, unless they choose to let sleeping dogs lie.
It is relatively easy to fight past corruption as former government officials are a lame duck since they no longer wield any power. The real test of their commitment, as our former chairperson Musa Mwenye SC has repeatedly stated, is if they will have the courage to take head on the current corruption.
The President has repeatedly said that he is committed to letting no one in his government escape accountability. It is the mandate of the new colleagues to actualize that and ensure no one is spared.
JUDGE HAMAUNDU HAS AN UPHILL BATTLE TO CONVINCE CITIZENS -DR KAABA
