Citizens urged to join in fight against graft

The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) has implored stakeholders in Mwense district to join the commission in the fight against corruption.

ACC community education officer Dennis Mwanza says  the fight against corruption needs joint operations with other stakeholders.

Mr. Mwanza said corruption lowers the quality of service delivery, reduces investor confidence and leads to under development hence the need for stakeholders to come on board.

He said the ACC exists solely to prevent corruption and sensitize the communities on the effects of corruption adding that alone,  the Commission cannot succeed in the fight against corruption.

The ACC community education officer said this during a meeting  with civil servants held at Mambilima and Mwense secondary schools, respectively.

Mr. Mwanza said corruption is a criminal offence and that anyone involved in such activities will face the wrath of the law.

He appealed to civil servants and other stakeholders in the district to get involved in sensitization programmes and ensure that members of the public are sensitized about corruption and its effects.

Mr. Mwanza said massive publicity about corruption will help reduction of corrupt practices in the country because some people are ignorant about the vice.

He urged stakeholders to refrain and report all corrupt related practices to the commission within 24 hours saying failure to report is an offence.

Meanwhile, Mr. Mwanza said the slight decrease in corrupt activities in the country is an indication that the fight against the scourge is bearing fruits.

He said according to the corruption perception index which is a measure of the perceived levels of corruption by country experts and compiled by Transparency international, Zambia scored 37 percent in
2012 and 38 percent in 2013.

Mr. Mwanza further said the Zambia bribe payers’ index report also showed that the chance that an average resident in Zambia will pay a bribe in order to secure a public service reduced from 14 percent in 2009 to 9.8 percent in 2012.