Bursaries To Be Funded By Corruption Crack-Down

The New Dawn Government has announced bursaries for 2,232 students funded by money recovered by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). 

Yesterday, Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said the ACC had handed over K65 million ($4 million) which was seized from disgraced journalist Faith Musonda last year.  

The announcement was welcomed by Education Minister Douglas Syakalima and officials from the ACC who attended the handing-over ceremony. 

Writing on social media, President Hakainde Hichilema welcomed the news which will help deliver on his manifesto promises of free education and a crack-down on corruption. 

“We are recovering money suspected to be the proceeds of crime and investing it in our youth, women, and people with disabilities as a matter of priority,” he posted.

“This does not happen by chance, but as the result of us realigning government to prioritise communities over cliques. We are cutting down on unnecessary expenditure, clamping down on corruption, and investing in our people,” he continued.

Upon entering office, President Hichilema pledged to clean-up the corruption which had grown rife under the Patriotic Front government. In an interview with the BBC, he said the country’s coffers had been left “literally empty” by the previous administration.

Since then he has committed to further support and independence for the ACC, as the organisation embarks on a wide-ranging crusade against graft. 

In October 2021, ACC officers arrested Lusaka journalist Faith Musonda and seized K65 million in cash, as well as USD 57,000 and a K6 million house suspected to be the proceeds of a crime. 

The New Dawn Government has also been busy delivering on its priority of free education for all children until secondary school. In January, the government established compensatory grants to pay for pupils’ schooling from early childhood. 

The issue is of particular importance to President Hichilema, who was educated at the University of Zambia on a full government bursary. From there, he went on to become a successful businessman, eventually being appointed Chief Executive Officer of both Coopers and Lybrand Zambia and Grant Thornton Zambia.