Government Accused of Covering Up Criminal Activity

The PF government has been accused of covering up a 2019 report by the Financial Intelligence Center (FIC) which alleges that government corruption and money laundering totalled some US$1.4bn last year. 

Writing in the Lusaka Times, UPND member Anthony Bwalya reports that the government is attempting to bury the report in order to cover up ongoing criminal activity within its ranks. 

The FIC report further indicates mass corruption within the health sector, as well as in stalled infrastructure projects. 

In particular it highlights a $650m payment made to government officials to surrender gold mining rights at strategic sites to foreign entities. 

Mr Bwalya further highlights an incident in 2018 in which unnamed Zambian nationals were accused of financing terrorism. He said that the transactions were never investigated because the individuals involved were close associates of senior government officials. 

He goes on to implicate the government’s unwavering support for Bill 10 in covering up for criminal damages.

“No one in the world will issue debt money to the regime, especially not via capital market operations. This is why the regime were kin to run down the monetary policy supervisory powers of the Bank of Zambia using Bill 10, so that they can be in charge of printing money. The continued delay of Bill 10 means they are running out of time to print this money, purely intended to go to fantom suppliers and party operatives,” Mr Bwalya writes. 

He predicts that the government will suppress the publication of the FIC’s 2019 report, or at best water it down to cover up alleged criminal activity. 

UPND Member Anthony Bwalya